


Four years in the making

by silvermoongirl10



Category: Blue Bloods (TV), Castle
Genre: Best Friends, Brothers, Danny being a proud older brother, Esposito and Danny worrying about Ryan and Jamie, Family, Friendship, Gen, Haunted memories are remembered, Jamie being an awesome Detective, Jamie being teased about Eddie, Life and Death situations, Ryan being a good friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-20
Updated: 2015-05-01
Packaged: 2018-02-05 11:21:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1816756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silvermoongirl10/pseuds/silvermoongirl10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After four years Jamie has finally been made Detective. He is now working in the Homicide Squad of the 12th Precinct with the best Homicide Detectives in the city. One, who happens to be Detective Kevin Ryan, who was a close friend of Joe's growing up. Follow Jamie in his first six months as a Homicide Detective.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know about anyone else, but in the past series of Blue Bloods when Frank mentioned that he had taken three years to become a Detective and Danny had taken three years and a half and Jamie responded by saying he's been a Patrol Officer for four years. With Frank also having Jamie investigate the cold case, I think at some point during season 5 Jamie may be made a Detective. So this was created by that thought, and then because I'm also a fan of Castle this turned into a crossover.

It was Sunday and the Reagans were sat around the dinner table, Jamie was still in shock about the news he had received on the past Monday. His dad was the only one who knew that things were changing for Jamie the next day. Jamie sat quietly sharing secretive smiles with his dad and waited for a good moment to tell the rest of the family his good news.

"Hey kid I was wondering if you could do me a favour?" asked Danny,

Jamie shrugged, "Depends what it is."

"When you're out on Patrol I need you to keep an eye out for a person of interest." Replied Danny as he cut up the meat on his plate.

"I would if I could Danny" responded Jamie,

Danny frowned at him in confusion, "What is _that_ supposed to mean?"

Frank smiled at Jamie, which only further confused everyone else sat at the table. "Are we missing something?" asked Henry, his eyebrows crinkling in confusion at the secret smile being passed between his son and youngest grandson.

"For a family full of people whose jobs are to read between the lines, you all are sure slow on the uptake" chuckled Jamie.

"Once you're done insulting our levels of intelligence. Would you care to share what's going on?!" demanded Danny, as he leaned forward and glared at his younger brother from across the table.

Jamie leaned back in his chair and smirked at the looks on his family's faces. "Starting tomorrow I'm no longer a Patrol Officer but a Homicide Detective."

Silence.

Then the room was filled with the loud exclamations of congratulations. Danny then hushed everyone, "so kid are ya moving precincts?"

Jamie shook his head, "Nope I'm staying in the 12th."

Henry nodded, "I've always heard good things about the Homicide Detectives from the 12th"

"Best Homicide closure rate in the entire city" added Frank, "Captains Montgomery and Gates have made it a fine Division."

"Shame about Captain Montgomery three years ago" mourned Henry,

Frank nodded in agreement, "But Captain Gates has continued to ensure the Division is the best."

"If I remember correctly Victoria Gates was, and is, one of the best Police Officers this city has ever had." Henry commented.

Danny choked on his drink, "Victoria Gates?! Captain Victoria 'Iron Gates' Gates? Formerly of I.A?" he shook his head, "it's a good thing you're a stickler for the rules kid. I'd hate to see what would happen to ya if you were-"

"More like you?" smirked Jamie,

"Watch it kid" warned Danny teasingly.

Henry laughed and then asked Frank, "Kevin Ryan works in the 12th's Homicide Division doesn't he?" Frank nodded.

"Whose Kevin Ryan?" asked Sean,

Danny turned to his youngest son and replied, "He was a good friend of your Uncle Joe's. They went to school together, went through the Academy together and spent their Patrol years working out of the 12th." Sean nodded and then went back to eating his dinner.

Danny then looked over at Jamie and raised his glass, "To my little brother, who was a great Patrol Officer and may he be an even better Detective."

Everyone toasted to Jamie and they all secretly breathed easier knowing that Jamie was no longer spending all his tours out on the streets.

* * *

It was Monday morning and Jamie felt strange driving to the 12th precinct in a suit instead of his everyday clothes before changing into his uniform. Wearing his uniform used to be an everyday affair, now it was going to be something that was rare. He found himself almost walking to the changing room that held his old locker. But all his stuff that was in his locker was now in a bag he was carrying that was going to be placed in a new locker.

He walked over to the elevator and pressed the button for the fourth floor. As the doors pinged open he took a deep breath. He heard his phone go off and he saw he had a text from Danny.

_Good luck, I know you'll do great. Meet you after tour at the usual bar._

Jamie smiled, then pocketed his cell phone before walking into the ball pen.

"Hey Jamie!" he turned to see Kevin Ryan walking towards him smiling, "I heard it was you who was the new rookie."

He smiled and greeted Ryan's partner Detective Javier Esposito (who he had meet a few times in the past and most memorably when he had taken Esposito and Ryan home after being captured by a suspect three years ago *) and his other colleagues Detective Kate Beckett and the crime novelist Richard Castle.

Ryan then led Jamie to Captain Gates' office and smiled, "It'll be great working with you"

"You to" smiled Jamie, he then knocked and entered Captain Gates office.

* * *

Jamie came out of the office completely terrified of his new Captain, he knew being the Police Commissioner's son that she was going to be keeping a close eye on him to ensure he didn't use his last name for any personal gain. He didn't expect anything less, his dad had told him when he first joined the force that he was going to have a lot of people watching him.

He was introduced to his new partner Detective William Harris, he had been a Homicide Detective for ten years and Jamie liked him already, he was close in character to Renzulli so Jamie knew Harris was a guy he could trust with his back. Harris showed him around the fourth floor, and in the break room he came across the most expensive coffee machine he had ever laid eyes on. Apparently it was a gift from Castle a few years back, so Jamie took out his phone and sent a picture to Danny. His brother's reply wasn't for polite company. Harris also showed him his new locker and then took him to his desk. His desk faced Harris' and just to his left was Ryan's desk, Ryan smiled and waved as he got up from his chair and left to go and question a suspect.

Jamie spent the day doing paperwork and getting to know the people in the Division. At lunch Harris took him a nearby sandwich take away, a place Jamie had been meaning to try but all his lunch breaks on Patrol were spent somewhere else in the city.

* * *

After lunch Jamie was doing some more paperwork when Castle came and sat himself in the chair beside Jamie's desk.

"So you're a member of the famed Reagan Police family" stated Castle,

"Yep" chuckled Jamie, "But don't say that to my sister, she gets offended when people forget that she's not a cop but an Assistant District Attorney."

Castle grinned, "So did you always want to be a cop?"

"Castle stop interrogating my rookie!" ordered Harris, but Jamie could see the small smile on Harris' face.

The writer shrugged and then turned back to Jamie expectantly, Jamie smiled. "Kinda. But I did graduate Harvard Law before going to the Academy."

Castle widened his eyes in surprise and Harris exclaimed, "You went to _Harvard_?!"

Jamie nodded, he slightly blushed seeing all the nearby Detectives staring at him in shock, expect Ryan who smiled at him. Jamie figured Joe must have told Ryan about his going to Harvard.

Castle got over his shock and then asked, "Is this your first day as a Detective?"

"Yeah" confirmed Jamie, confused as to what Castle was fishing for.

"Any good stories from your time as a Patrol Officer? Beckett, Esposito and Ryan won't tell me about their time spent as Patrol Officers." Complained Castle.

Jamie grinned, "A lot did happen."

Castle edged forward in his seat, "Well go on!"

Jamie sat back in his chair and gently tugging on his tie he thought back on all that had happened to him in the past four years. "Well in my first few weeks on the job my TO had me arrest someone in a hot dog suit." Castle burst out laughing and Jamie noticed some of the other Detectives listening. "There was also a lady protesting about her cheating ex-husband with a blow up pig, which my TO made me deflate and then a couple of days later we get called back there and she was protesting again, but this time she had a real pig with her." Jamie chuckled along with everyone else remembering Renzulli's order to deflate the pig.

"I bet you got in some sticky situations" stated Castle, he had worked with Detectives long enough to know the job didn't come without its risks.

Jamie nodded, "I've been pushed down stairs, nearly had some alone time with a Mob boss-"

"Wait a second! A mob boss? Explain!" demanded Castle.

From the corner of his eye Jamie noticed Ryan leaning forward interested. "Two years ago I was in a bar with a few other Officers in plain clothes and tasked with making sure there was no underage drinking. Then I ended up helping this guy called Noble, who it turned out was a member of the Sanfino crime family. A family O.C.C.B had had trouble getting Intel on for years, so I went undercover."

"Wow" whispered Castle in amazement, "And you were only in your second year on the job?" Jamie nodded and a few Detectives whistled in appreciation.

"You've always been at the 12th precinct?" asked Castle. Jamie nodded and Castle continued, "So were you involved in the situation at the Bitterman houses last year?" Again Jamie nodded, "So you must have known Vinny Cruz"

"Castle!" warned Ryan sharply, Castle turned to Ryan in confusion not realizing he had said something he shouldn't have. Even Harris shook his head at Castle, and then looked over at his new partner. Ryan looked over at Jamie in concern, he was aware of what had happened to Jamie at the Bitterman houses last year.

But Jamie had frozen and the bullpen in front of him had faded away.

" _10-13! 10-13! Officer's been shot! Bitterman houses, main quad!"_

_Firing his own weapon, reaching Vinny pulling him up by his jacket "Vinny get up man! Get up come on! Come on get up!"_

_Pulling Vinny behind cover muttering that he had Vinny and that it was going to be ok. Pressing his hand into Vinny's wound._

" _You're gonna be ok. Look at me! Look at me you're ok alright? Hey don't go anywhere, stay right here with me ok? Fight! Come on fight! Hey Vinny come on! Stop smiling! Hey look at me man!"_

_Vinny blinking up at him and saying, "it's ok, hey it's ok Reagan. I told you, I told you this is the end"_

" _What?"_

_"It's the end. It's ok"_

"Jamie?"

He shook himself and found himself looking at a small group of concerned gazes, he looked back at Castle and said, "Vinny was my partner."

"Oh I'm so sorry!" exclaimed Castle, he began tripping over himself to apologize.

Jamie chuckled, the memories already beginning to fade, "It's alright, don't worry you didn't know."

"Ryan did! Even though he's only met you a few times!" argued Castle as he looked back at his friend.

Jamie shook his head as Ryan commented, "I knew Jamie's middle brother Joe. We were friends growing up, me and Joe always kept a close eye on Jamie here. So once he joined the 12th I just kept tabs on him in case he needed anything." Ryan missed the look Esposito had directed at him.

"Oh" said Castle, he turned to Jamie, "I'll leave you to your paperwork, but your welcome to join us at the Old Haunt tonight if you want, I know the owner." Grinned Castle.

Jamie smiled, "Thanks for the offer, but I'm meeting my brother Danny for a drink later."

"Fair enough." Nodded Castle, "See ya around Jamie."

Jamie smiled at Ryan and Esposito and went back to his paperwork and chatted with Harris.

* * *

Jamie walked into the bar and found Danny had already got them some drinks. Jamie dropped onto the bar stool and took the spare bottle.

"Thanks Danny." He smiled,

"No problem kid. So _Detective_ , how did your first day go?" asked Danny as he took a sip from his beer and looked at his brother.

"It was great!" grinned Jamie.

Danny nodded as he smiled, "That's good. So who's your new partner?"

"William Harris" replied Jamie.

Danny nodded again, "I've heard good things about him, glad he's your partner."

"You been keeping tabs on me?" questioned Jamie,

Danny shrugged, "Not all the time, I've only done it when you graduated the Academy and was assigned to the 12th and when you told us about your promotion. Just want to make sure my brother's back is covered by the best."

Jamie smiled, "Well you don't need to worry. Harris is a lot like Renzulli. No doubt I'll be fine."

"Good" commented Danny.

They then began talking about anything and everything, when Danny raised his bottle. "To you Detective Reagan"

"And to you Detective Reagan" grinned Jamie. They clinked their bottles together and took a gulp from their beers and Jamie was sure this was the beginning of something great.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapters POV's will be split between Jamie, Ryan and Esposito. Also contains spoilers for all the Castle series.

Esposito's head was still spinning at Ryan's revelation that he had been good friends with Joe Reagan, a Detective who had been killed on duty five years ago. He had had no idea that Ryan had grown up around the Reagans, and he didn't know how he felt about Ryan not telling him about his friend. At the time he had wondered why Ryan seemed to be almost depressed, now he knew why.

So once the case had been solved and he, Ryan, Castle and Beckett went to the Old Haunt he decided he was going to talk to his partner. To go through the loss of a friend alone was a terrible thing, even when he thought he had lost Ike he still had everyone else in his Division. Ryan had none of his friends because he had said nothing.

He didn't know why it was bothering him so much that Ryan had had said nothing, because he himself had done something similar; he had never told Ryan about Ike until he came up in a case. But a part of him said this was different. IA hadn't been crashing down on Joe, Ryan hadn't been left wondering what case his partner had been working on that got him killed and he hadn't been left with the guilt that he somehow failed his friend.

At the Old Haunt Castle went and showed Beckett some new renovations, so Esposito took his chance and turned to his friend. But Ryan spoke first.

"It'll be nice working in Homicide with Jamie. Despite him being four years younger than Joe and I, we always liked hanging out with him." Commented Ryan as he took a sip of his beer.

Esposito frowned, "Why didn't you say anything when Joe died?" Ryan flinched slightly, anyone else who was looking wouldn't have seen it, but Esposito had known Ryan for years so he saw it plain as day. "Kevin?"

"Because it just didn't seem right at the time, I'm not saying you or Beckett would. But I was worried that others would think I was looking for attention saying I was friends with the Police Commissioner's son who had died." Sighed Ryan as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Esposito shook his head, "Ryan no one would have thought that, you should have said something! I knew something was up with you but I didn't want to say anything because you looked as if you wanted to be left alone."

"Well my head wasn't in the best of places to make sound decisions" sniped Ryan, he sighed again, "Sorry bro."

"Don't be" responded Esposito shaking his head. "I could have asked you about Joe in a better way."

"I wanted to tell you, but I just didn't know how" sighed Ryan as he rubbed a hand across his face.

Esposito nodded his head and then decided to change the subject in a happier direction, he smiled, "I guess you know the Commissioner pretty well then"

"You could say that" grinned Ryan, "He has known me my whole life."

"Really?"

"Yeah" nodded Ryan, "My parents moved into our house soon after they had married, the Commissioner and his wife, Mary, had done the same thing. As they only lived two streets away they saw each other a lot. My older sisters got on with Danny and Erin, but they weren't best friends like Joe and I were. And as I had no brothers I spent a lot of my time over at the Reagan house."

Esposito smiled, Ryan had told him all about growing up with his sisters and his friends, but had never knew Ryan's friends were the Reagans. "Must have been weird coming onto the force with the Commissioner and his dad high up in the ranks."

Ryan shrugged, "It was a little, I knew I couldn't go calling Joe's dad Frank or Mr Reagan. I was so nervous about it our families had a combined celebrationary dinner after Joe and I graduated the Academy and I called him by the rank he held at the time, whatever it was I can't remember. He laughed and told me we weren't on duty so I should just call him Frank."

"Well look at you" smirked Esposito, "Not only are you well connected by being Castle's friend, you're also well-known with the Police Commissioner."

Ryan shook his head and shoved Esposito's shoulder, "Jerk."

"You love me anyway" grinned Esposito,

Ryan rolled his eyes, "Don't know why."

"Because I'm awesome" stated Esposito with a look of mock seriousness.

"You have such a big ego Javi, you need to bring it down a few notches." Commented Ryan before he went back to drinking his beer laughing.

* * *

It was Sunday again and Jamie was shattered. He and Harris got a case early Tuesday morning and they seemed to run into dead ends throughout the case. It had appeared the man in his mid-twenties had been the victim of a random hit and run and that was it. Until Jamie questioned the victim's sister-in-law, she had let slip a piece of information about some documents in the victim's brief case, something only Jamie and Harris knew about, not even the secretary of the victim's brother knew what was in the briefcase. So Jamie led her into an interrogation room and pressed her hard. Eventually she broke and admitted she thought the victim had been stealing from the family business and had only meant to talk to her brother-in-law, but he had run off so she went after him in the car and had accidentally hit him, after seeing he had died she had panicked and driven off. Harris had congratulated him on solving the case and told Jamie to leave the paperwork for Monday, so Friday afternoon Jamie went home dragging his feet in exhaustion.

He had just finished telling his family about the case, finally caught up on his sleep and not fearing he would face plant the table by falling asleep where he sat.

Danny grinned at him from across the table, "Congratulations kid on solving your first case."

"Thanks Danny" smiled Jamie. He was thankful that he and his brother were getting along better now, it really helped him to know that if he needed anything Danny was there for him; on duty or off duty.

"So how is Kevin?" asked Henry, he had always thought the boy as an honorary grandson as he and Joe were so close strangers had thought they were twins. But after Joe had died, Kevin had come to the funeral but since then the Reagans hadn't seen much of him. They had heard snippets of what was happening in Kevin's life, they had been happy to hear he had gotten married but were all sad none of them were available on the day to attend, but they had all called in on his parent's house and offered their congratulations to Kevin and his wife Jenny. Jamie had told them how he had taken Kevin home after a suspect had abducted him, and how Kevin had been trapped in a burning building and almost never got to meet his daughter.

"He's good" smiled Jamie, "Jenny called by to see him the other day and she brought their daughter, Sarah-Grace, with her."

Linda smiled, "That's a pretty name." Erin nodded her head in agreement and squeezed the hand of her own daughter.

"Sarah-Grace is only a few months old and I tell she already has Kevin wrapped around her little finger" grinned Jamie. Danny snorted into his glass, Linda gently smacked him chuckling.

"It's not hard for fathers to be wrapped around their daughter's little fingers" commented Frank smiling at Erin.

Henry smiled shaking his head, "Who'd a thought little Kevin Ryan starting a family of his own."

Frank nodded, "I remember as if it was yesterday, Kevin, Joe and Jamie tearing around the streets on their bikes."

"Yeah even though I kept lagging behind Joe and Kevin would always wait for me" stated Jamie in a soft voice.

Danny smiled across the table at Jamie, "Everyone knew not to mess with you. Joe and Kevin would never have let anyone get away with pushing you around. And if I remember correctly, on two occasions they both got grounded for getting into a fight standing up for you."

Frank smirked at the memory, "Yes I do recall that happening. I also recall Jamie offering to me and your mom and also the Ryan's to take Joe's and Kevin's punishments."

"Oh yeah!" chortled Danny, "Jamie was hero worshipping them for weeks!"

"Shut up Danny" groaned Jamie.

The entire family burst out laughing, and sat recalling all the happy memories of their childhoods. The kids wanted to see the places where their parents and Uncle Jamie played when growing up, so they all gathered their coats and decided to go for a walk.

* * *

Kevin walked beside Jenny with an arm wrapped around his wife's shoulders as Jenny pushed Sarah-Grace in her pram. They had come to his parent's house for Sunday dinner and seeing that the weather was nice they decided to take a walk. As they walked Jenny kept asking him to tell her different stories from when he was growing up and he was only too happy to tell her, he smiled at the good memories from his childhood and before his eyes he could see a younger version of himself riding his bike beside Joe and Jamie.

As they turned a corner they saw the Reagan family waking towards them, Jamie looked up and waved in greeting.

"Hi Jamie" smiled Kevin, his stomach twisted in his nervousness of seeing the rest of the Reagans for the first time in a couple of years.

Danny strode forward and clapped Kevin on the shoulder, "You alright Kevin?"

"I'm good" smiled Kevin, "You?"

"Never better" responded Danny, he then turned to greet Jenny.

Kevin smiled seeing Jamie, Erin, Nicki, the boys and Linda join Danny by heading straight to Jenny and Sarah-Grace after giving him a smile. He then swallowed down his nerves and smiled at the approaching figures of Frank and Henry.

"Looks like we had the same idea" smiled Frank,

Kevin nodded, "Had to take the oppotuntiy of the good weather." He was finding it hard meeting Frank's and Henry's eyes, after Joe had died they had told him he was always welcome in the Reagan house. But he had never managed to force himself to walk the two streets from his parent's house to the Reagans.

Henry looked at him and he knew the older Reagan knew what he was thinking, "Now there is no need for you to feel guilty Kevin." He admonished gently, "From what I've heard Francis and Jamie saying you've has a rough few years."

Kevin nodded, it had been a rough few years; Beckett's mother's murder cropping up in a past few cases, the 3XK taking his gun and badge, himself and Javier being taken by Lockwood, Captain Montgomery dying, Beckett getting shot and almost dying, his stolen gun being used in a murder, Beckett almost falling off a roof, Javier hating him for a few weeks, Castle being framed for murder, Beckett moving to Washington for a few months and he and Javier almost dying in a fire.

He looked over at Sarah-Grace and not for the first time reflected on how close he came to never meeting his daughter. He startled when Frank rested a hand on his shoulder. "You've been blessed with a fine family Kevin."

He nodded and swallowed past the lump in his throat, "I've been so lucky its hard thinking about what I would have missed. What I came so close to missing."

Henry smiled comfortingly at him, "It wasn't your time to go, you had a little one to meet. I just know Joe had a hand in that."

Kevin smiled, "As I was passing out I thought I heard his voice, telling me to hang on just a little bit longer."

Frank squeezed his shoulder gently, "One more thing I have to thank my son for." At Kevin's puzzled look Frank continued, "As you were growing up you became an honorary Reagan, to be told that the worst had happened would have felt as if we had lost Joe again. As I was being updated on the situation when you were trapped in the building I was so relieved to hear you and your partner had been saved. And I was pleased to hear you had a healthy baby girl."

Kevin shook his head chuckling, "When I was in the building I didn't think anything of it, but when I got out I was stunned that Jenny made her way to the scene in labour."

"I wasn't going to let you be alone" commented Jenny as she came and hugged her husband. Kevin responded by kissing the top of her head and smiled as Henry bent down to greet Sarah-Grace.

He was glad he had finally caught up with the Reagans and was beyond pleased that they had arranged a date to get all the Ryans and Reagans together. Jamie joining the 12th's Homicide Division, really had been a good sign.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have an idea what I'm going to do in chapter 2, but after that any prompts (e.g. funny situations or angsty ones) would be most appreciated.
> 
> * Reference to chapter 3 in my Castle story Making it home.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt suggested by Ealasaid Una (on FanFiction.Net): As Eddie and Jamie are no longer partners they can date.

Jamie had been a Detective for three weeks now and he felt that he was beginning to get a hang of the goings-on of the Division. He got along with everyone in the Homicide Division especially Harris, Castle, Beckett and Esposito (he had gotten along with Ryan for years). But that didn't mean he missed his friends in uniform. He knew he could go downstairs to see them, but without a valid reason, such as a case, to he knew it wouldn't be a good idea. That didn't mean he hadn't been keeping an eye out in case any of his friends came up to Homicide (something he himself had done a few times in the past). He was doing his paperwork for his third case when he heard approaching footsteps, he ignored them and continued writing, but paused when the footsteps stopped beside his desk. A shadow was cast over his desk, he tensed fearing it was Captain Gates (he still hadn't gotten used to her intimidating personality), but was surprised to find Eddie stood beside him.

"Wow Reagan" smirked Eddie, "You been gone so long that you've forgotten your own partner and friend?"

Jamie shook himself and grinning he stood up, "Well if it isn't Officer Janko"

"What you pulling rank now? Didn't think that was your style" commented Eddie, her eyebrows raised in a mock serious look.

Jamie chuckled, "Things have changed."

"Yeah. They sure have" said Eddie with a small smile that almost seemed sad, and forced. Before Jamie could say anything the look on Eddie's face had vanished. "I only came up here to hand over a person of interest so I'd best get back on my beat." She smiled turning and began to walk away. She was halfway to the elevator before Jamie realized that she was leaving and he jogged after her.

"Eddie wait!" called Jamie,

Eddie turned frowning in confusion, "Reagan I gotta get back, Ellis is waiting for me in the squad car"

"I know" sighed Jamie as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Look I know now isn't the perfect time to catch up, but how about we go for a drink at the usual place after our shifts?"

"Sure" smiled Eddie, this time a genuine smile. Jamie smiled broadly in reply and waited until Eddie was in the elevator and the doors had slid shut. With one more look at the doors, he turned and headed back to his desk. Where Ryan and Esposito had slid their chairs over and Castle had sat himself in the chair beside his desk.

Jamie sat down on his chair and pulled the file closer to him in an attempt to ignore the other three men crowding around his desk.

"So" drawled Castle, "She was your partner on the beat?"

"For the last year, yeah" commented Jamie as he signed a form and pulled out the next one in a stack of ten.

"She's cute" stated Esposito as he tried to hide his smirk.

"I suppose so" responded Jamie, as he still looked down at his desk, but from the corner of his eye he desperately looked for Harris to save him.

"There's no supposing about it" smirked Esposito, "You like her"

"Well she is my friend" stated Jamie, deliberately missing what Esposito was getting at and signing his forms quicker seeing Harris in the break room.

"Not like that" sighed Esposito rolling his eyes in exasperation.

"You like her _more_ than a friend" grinned Castle,

"Whatever gave you that idea?" questioned Jamie as he tapped the forms into a neat pile and slid them back into the file and began to rise to his feet.

"He's a Detective and I'm a writer it's in our job descriptions to be able to read people" commented Castle while smiling up at Jamie.

Jamie shook his head and walked towards the break room and was dismayed to hear three sets of footsteps following him. "Guys would you just drop it? I only like her as a friend!"

"Nice try" sniggered Ryan, "You had the same look on your face when you were ten and had a crush on Madeline Yates"

" _Ryan_!" hissed Jamie as he turned to look wide eyed at a beaming Ryan.

" _Ooooh_ " grinned Esposito, "Sounds like there's a story there"

"There is no story!" countered Jamie,

Castle raised his hand, "As a writer I have to disagree there. There is _always_ a story"

Esposito and Castle then turned to Ryan expectantly, as Jamie looked at Ryan he knew Ryan wouldn't say anything if he admitted his feelings for Eddie.

Jamie shook his head as Ryan opened his mouth, "No. Nononono"

"What's going on?" questioned Harris, as Jamie and the other three entered the break room.

"We're just trying to get Jamie to admit his feelings for a friend of his" grinned Esposito,

Harris nodded his head slowly, "Ah! Would that happen to be the friend who not long ago left and who made Jamie stare at the closed elevator doors?" At the nods of Esposito, Ryan and Castle Harris turned to Jamie, "So what's up with you and your friend?"

Jamie handed over the file, "Nothing."

Harris shook his head and commented, "That was not nothing. You two aren't partners anymore."

"So?" frowned Jamie,

Harris rolled his eyes, " _So._ You don't have to go for just a drink as friends. Make it something more. Make it dinner."

"Friends go out for dinner" replied Jamie trying to keep the desperate edge out of his voice.

Harris sighed and rested an arm across Jamie's shoulders, "I know you want to be more than friends with her Reagan. There aren't any rules forbidding it now. Call her and make some new arrangements." Still seeing the reluctant look on Jamie's face, Harris pointed the file at Jamie and added, "Or I swear I will find more paperwork for you to do that will take _hours_!"

At Jamie's horrified look Harris patted his shoulder and walked out of the room whistling with Esposito and Castle following him grinning back at Jamie. Ryan remained in the room and smiled at him, "Do it Jamie, what's the harm?"

"How about I might ruin a great friendship?" supplied Jamie,

Ryan smiled softly, "I understand that that would be bad, but on the up side if it does go badly at least she'll be downstairs with the uniforms and you'll be here."

"I guess" sighed Jamie, and then he exclaimed "I forgot! I'm meeting Danny later!"

"Call him and tell him you'll make it up to him tomorrow. He won't mind" said Ryan. He gave Jamie one more smile and then turned and left the room.

Jamie took out his cell phone and stared at it for a few moments, then he dialled Danny's number.

* * *

Danny was sat at his desk bored out of his mind; there was no case and for once, no paperwork on his desk. His cell phone began ringing and he lept at it thankful for the distraction.

"Reagan?"

" _Wow, you answered your phone quick"_ commented Jamie in amusement,

"I've got nothing to _do_ " groused Danny.

" _Not even any paperwork?"_ asked Jamie in shock,

Danny pulled the phone away and glared at it before putting it back against his ear and replied sharply (choosing to ignore his brother's jab), "What do you want kid?"

" _Can we have a drink tomorrow? I can't do tonight it turns out"_

"Yeah sure" shrugged Danny.

" _Right thanks Danny. See you tomorrow"_ answered Jamie in a rush.

"Hang on!" interrupted Danny before Jamie could hang up, "What's going on that is more important than having a drink with your own brother? And hanging up on me quickly?"

Danny heard Jamie sigh before his brother answered, _"I'm going out for dinner. Okay?"_

"What's her name?" questioned Danny as he sat up straighter and rested his phone between his head and shoulder, with his hands ready to type the girl's name into his computer to search for her. He was _that_ bored.

" _Why do you automatically assume it's a date?"_ deflected Jamie,

Danny rolled his eyes, "That's the _only_ time you ever eat out. Unless dad, Erin or I drag you out of your apartment."

" _Fine_ _. It is a date. Well…sorta. I hope"_

"What does that even _mean_ kid?!" exclaimed Danny in confusion.

" _It's Eddie"_

"Eddie? Oh. _Oh_. Your former partner _Eddie?"_

" _Yes"_ growled Jamie,

"Ooooh well isn't that interesting!" grinned Danny; he was then met with the dial tone signalling that Jamie had hung up on him. He smiled at his phone, "Good on ya kid, it's about time."

* * *

Jamie was walking Eddie back to her apartment after a great dinner. He had to keep fighting the urge to reach out and hold her hand. The moonlight and street lights bounced off her golden hair and it entranced him, when she smiled and laughed he loved how it made her eyes light up. He had to admit he had missed seeing her every day and seeing that they were outside her building he began to panic slightly, it had been three weeks since he made Detective and he hadn't seen her once. He found himself dreading seeing her walk into her building without plans for meeting up again, so without putting much thought into it he grasped her arm gently and kissed her. It was a short and gentle kiss and he pulled away to look at the ground, tensed ready for her to say they were just friends.

But instead a soft hand rested under his chin and lifted his head up until he met Eddie's eye line. She gave him a gentle smile before she kissed him; it lasted until they felt the need to breathe and pulled apart, smiling at the other.

"Finally Reagan" breathed Eddie,

Jamie rolled his eyes, "Why'd I have to be the only one to start this?"

"I pegged you for the gentleman type, in which case it had to be you to initiate a kiss" smiled Eddie, Jamie chuckled in response. "I've got an early tour tomorrow" she stated apologetically.

Jamie nodded smiling, "Go get some sleep." He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before he kissed her again.

"Goodnight Jamie" said Eddie as she began to walk to the building door.

"G'night Eddie" replied Jamie, he waited until the door shut behind Eddie before he began to walk in the direction of his own apartment. Grinning to himself knowing that right now his life couldn't be any better. Although he was sure this feeling wouldn't last long tomorrow with Harris, Ryan, Esposito, Castle and Danny getting on his back wanting to know what happened between him and Eddie.

 _They won't be that bad_ , thought Jamie. _I hope_.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by jerseybelle (from FanFiction.Net): Maybe Renzulli can ask Jamie to 'look into' a case where he thinks the guy is innocent. The beginning of the chapter begins with the guys reactions to Jamie's date with Eddie. Enjoy!

Jamie exited the elevator hoping beyond hope that the guys wouldn't ask him anything about his date with Eddie. He didn't really know how much he believed that. Looking around he saw Castle following Beckett into the break room and Ryan and Esposito were at their desks heads down as they worked on their stacks of paperwork. Jamie breathed a sigh of relief; maybe he would get away with avoiding questions about his date.

He sat at his desk and started turning his computer on, Harris (whose desk faced Jamie's) leaned around his computer screen to look at him. "Hey Jamie I've gotta go to court and give evidence on a case I worked on, I'll probably be gone most of the day. I know this is a lot to ask but could you finish my paperwork? There's only a little, but if a case comes in don't worry about it."

"Sure" nodded Jamie, "But what do you want me to do if a case does come in?"

"Go check out the crime scene" answered Harris, he then saw the look on Jamie's face. "I know you've only been in Homicide for three weeks but I think you can handle a crime scene and getting started on a case, just bring me up to speed tomorrow. But if you're really unsure ask someone else to go along with you."

Jamie nodded smiling, there wasn't a high risk that he would get called to a crime scene, but you never know. Then as Harris began to walk away he turned around suddenly and grinned at Jamie.

"So how did the dinner date go last night?"

Jamie stared at Harris with wide eyes and groaned when he saw Ryan and Esposito drop their pens to look at him expectantly.

"Er…okay" murmured Jamie,

"So is there likely to be anymore dinner dates?" questioned Harris, his grin slowly growing bigger. Jamie shrugged hoping that the topic would be dropped. Harris smiled and continued to walk out of the bull pen. Jamie sighed in relief, but he shouldn't have. Ryan and Esposito rolled their chairs over the short distance.

"So I take it the date went really well?" asked Ryan as he lent an elbow on Jamie's desk.

"So what if it did?" retorted Jamie, "And get your elbow off my desk!" he added as he shoved Ryan's elbow off the desk causing Ryan to almost fall out of his chair.

Esposito rolled his eyes at his partner and then looked at Jamie with a wide toothy grin, "So what happened?"

"What? You a teenage girl now?" responded Jamie. Ryan snorted, only for Esposito to elbow him in his side.

"Come on kid, aren't you gonna tell us _anything_?" questioned Esposito,

"No"

"Why not?" demanded Esposito, his eyes glinting with amusement.

"It was just a dinner date! Something I know both of you have done in the past! So there's nothing to tell!"

"How did you feel when you saw her?"

"You suddenly become a psychiatrist overnight Esposito?"

"Stop deflecting the questions!"

"Okay! Time out!" interrupted Ryan as he looked between Esposito and Jamie.

If Jamie thought that his long-time friend was coming to his rescue. He was wrong.

Ryan smirked as he leaned closer to Jamie, "When are you gonna go out with her again?"

"I dunno, but I'm sure as hell not telling you when I do!"

Esposito frowned as he crossed his arms, "Why aren't you telling us anything? Not even one _small_ detail?"

Jamie crossed his own arms and leaned back in his chair, "Because if I give you guys an inch. You'll take a mile."

"Ooooh. Look at Mr Harvard Law talking!" teased Ryan,

"They teach you to talk like that there?" asked Esposito with a look of mock offense.

"So what if they did?" countered Jamie, "You'd never find out; they wouldn't let you on the campus, let alone let you study there!"

"Whoa!"

"Uncalled for!"

"Truth hurts" grinned Jamie.

"Huh. Fine. See if we care" commented Esposito as he smoothly rolled his chair away. Ryan ended up having to push with his feet the whole way back to his desk, with Esposito rolling his eyes at him.

"Embarrassing yourself much?" chuckled Jamie,

"Shut up!"

"Great comeback Ryan" smirked Esposito,

"Jerks" muttered Ryan as he began filling out his paperwork again.

Jamie sniggered as he reached over his desk and grabbed the paperwork from Harris' desk. Within minutes Ryan and Esposito were throwing balls of paper at him, Jamie got good at blocking them with one arm all the while wondering how many more balls of paper were going to come his way. He was soon answered by Ryan coughing to get Esposito's attention; Gates was glaring at them through the door to her office.

When Gates had turned away Jamie chuckled, "Busted."

"Shut up Jamie!" coursed Ryan and Esposito, as one more ball of paper hit the side of his head.

* * *

Two hours later Jamie was coming out of the break room to find Renzulli striding towards him. Jamie walked towards his former TO and partner grinning. "Hey Sarge!"

"Hey Jamie" smiled Renzulli,

Jamie took a look at Renzulli and he could tell Renzulli hadn't come just for a friendly chat. "What's up Sarge?"

"I helped some Detectives from the 10th arrest a suspect in a murder and…"

"And?" prompted Jamie,

Renzulli took a deep breath and in a quiet voice said, "And. I don't think he did it."

Jamie nodded slowly and led Renzulli over to his desk, once they had both sat down Jamie turned to Renzulli. "So what's the case?"

"The suspect. Barry Moreno, his girlfriend Tamara Gibson had been strangled in their apartment last night, sometime between 10pm and 1am. The apartment door hadn't been broken suggesting forced entry, so either the killer had a key or Tamara knew them to open the door. The neighbours had said they had been fighting for a couple of weeks; apparently Barry had been claimin' she was cheatin' on him. Barry had gone to a nearby bar at 9:30, got drunk and left around 11. He said all he remembers is goin' for a walk. The only thing is; no one can say where he was. The next time anyone saw him was 9 o'clock this mornin' when he showed up for work. The Detectives say it's an open and shut case. Usually I'd agree."

"But not this time" stated Jamie,

Renzulli nodded his head, "I know I'm askin' a big favour here, but I was wonderin' if ya would take a look into what happened."

"Sure thing Sarge" replied Jamie nodding, "But Sarge. Why me? You must know plenty of good and _experienced_ Homicide Detectives who'd be able to help you out."

Renzulli leaned forward and looked Jamie directly in the eye. "I'm askin' ya kid because I trained ya and I know you've got a good eye for things that aren't obvious. If you ya say he did it, I'll believe ya. Because I trust ya. But my gut is tellin' me that Barry didn't do it. Someone is settin' him up to take the fall."

Jamie nodded determinedly, "I'll do my best Sarge."

Renzulli stood and patted Jamie's shoulder, "I know ya will kid. Keep me posted."

"Will do!" called Jamie as Renzulli walked towards the elevator.

Once Renzulli had left Jamie sat in his chair unsure of where to start. He startled when Ryan rolled over and had a small crash into the side of his desk.

"I heard you and Renzulli talking. Do you want a hand looking into the case?" offered Ryan; it was almost as if he knew Jamie was at a loss of what to do. He didn't have the file of the case and so had no idea what his first move should be.

"Help would be nice" replied Jamie, "But shouldn't you be doing your paperwork?"

"Probably" shrugged Ryan, then he sighed, "Look Jamie, I don't mean this in a bad way, but you've only been in Homicide for three weeks, and that's how long you've been a Detective. I've been here far longer so the investigating Detectives won't be so put out if I look into it with you."

Jamie smiled his thanks and then confessed, "I have no idea where to start."

"I do. Come on" smiled Ryan reassuringly. They grabbed their coats and Ryan more or less ran to the elevator to prevent Beckett or Esposito catching him making a break for it.

* * *

In the hour that Ryan and Jamie had been looking into the case, Jamie was glad that he had accepted Ryan's offer of help. Jamie had no idea what Ryan did but his friend was able to sweet talk the Homicide Detectives from the 10th into allowing them to further investigate the murder case. Jamie had suggested they go to the bank where Tamara worked to see if she had had any problems with anyone. They were talking with Tamara's friend at the bank Jane Baldwin.

Jamie leaned forward, "Jane was there anyone who could have disliked Tamara so much that they would want to hurt her?"

Jane sniffled into a tissue, "Everyone liked Tamara. She was nice to everyone." Jamie and Ryan shared a disappointed look but then Jane continued. "But Norman…Norman Foster…he's always been a little odd. Nobody really likes to talk to him, but Tamara did. She confessed to me one day that Norman was beginning to be overly friendly. He kept giving her gifts and told her to break up with her boyfriend, Barry. He said he loved her. But Tamara told him that she loved Barry. The past two weeks she said while she was out she could have sworn that someone was following her."

They thanked Jane and left the bank, and after asking Jane where Tamara liked to go in the city they decided to look at some CCTV footage and see if Tamara was being followed. Back in the bull pen Ryan jogged to the room that was used for reviewing CCTV footage and shut all the blinds to make sure Beckett and Esposito didn't see him. Ryan worked his magic with the computer and soon they discovered that Norman had been following Tamara.

"So Norman gets it into his head that he and Tamara should be together and is angry that she won't break up with Barry" commented Ryan as he turned in the chair to look at Jamie.

Jamie nodded, "Jane said Norman kept buying Tamara gifts, maybe that's what convinced Barry that Tamara was cheating. I think we should check if Norman has any priors."

Ryan agreed and they searched Norman's name, and found he had a few priors for B&E where it had been noted he had picked locks to gain access. Jamie on a hunch checked the CCTV of the bar Barry had gone to and found Norman watching Barry for a few moments before leaving and heading in the direction of Barry's and Tamara's apartment. They checked the CCTV footage from the entrance to the apartment building and at 10:05 Barry entered the building, he left at 10:35 and Jamie paused the footage and zoomed in. A rope was dangling from one of Norman's pockets.

"I think that matches the ligature marks on Tamara's neck" commented Ryan as he squinted at the image. He patted Jamie on the shoulder, "Good job spotting that! We've got enough cause to bring Norman in for questioning."

So they grabbed their coats again, with Ryan yet again trying to hide from Beckett and Esposito. Jamie had to leave the small room first, he waited until Esposito went into the break room and through the crack in the door he gestured for Ryan to leave. Ryan breathed a sigh of relief when the elevator doors slid shut without him being seen, Jamie shook his head chuckling and tormented Ryan saying that Esposito had not looked happy.

Renzulli met Jamie and Ryan outside Norman's apartment and helped them arrest him. They walked through the bull pen with Norman cuffed between them, unfortunately for Ryan this time he couldn't hide from Beckett and Esposito. Beckett nodded when she saw Ryan with Jamie and Norman understanding that Ryan had stepped in to help Jamie. Esposito, however, shook his head in annoyance before he stood and started striding towards them. Jamie guided Norman into the Interrogation Room with Ryan ducking inside quickly and shutting the door behind him.

* * *

Esposito walked into the Observation Room and nodded in greeting to Renzulli, he didn't know Renzulli as well as Ryan. This was due to Ryan spending his Patrol years in the 12th with Renzulli, while he spent his Patrol years in the 54th. He turned and watched as Jamie and Ryan settled into the chairs facing their suspect. He couldn't believe that Ryan had gone off with Jamie and left him with all the paperwork! And it wasn't paperwork that could wait to be filled out the next day, it _needed_ to be done today and so he had ended up doing Ryan's paperwork as well as his own. Castle had left seeing that they wouldn't have a case so he didn't even have anyone to help pass the time faster. He was so going to have words with Ryan.

He tuned out his thoughts and watched as Ryan and Jamie began questioning the suspect. He was intrigued; he hadn't seen Jamie interrogate the suspect in his first case so he wondered what approach the new Detective would take. Ryan tended to come across as the 'Good Cop', but at a drop of a hat he could change into the 'Bad Cop' and quickly change back into the 'Good Cop'. He would continue to flip like this and it would leave the suspect unsure of what was going on and inadvertently slip up and so enabling them to get a confession.

As he watched he noticed how Jamie subtlety looked to Ryan letting the older Detective take the lead. At first glance it looked like Jamie wasn't sure what he should do so was taking a back seat, but Esposito looked closer and noticed that Jamie was seeing how the suspect responded to Ryan's questioning and he could see that Jamie was thinking how to approach his questioning in a different way allowing for the suspect to feel easier with one of them.

"He's a natural" smiled Esposito,

Renzulli nodded grinning, "When he first joined the force I wondered what I had gotten myself into, but I quickly realized Jamie is just like Joe in the way he can read people and respond appropriately."

Esposito turned back to the interrogation with interest and noticed Ryan had changed into the 'Bad Cop' leaving the suspect confused.

"We know how you felt about Tamara Norman!" stated Ryan almost angrily, "So you're telling us that it didn't make you _angry_ that Tamara wouldn't leave Barry?" Norman twitched at the mention of Barry's name.

Jamie leaned forward a little and in a calm voice said, "All we want to do is find out what happened."

"You know what happened!" screeched Norman, "Her boyfriend killed her! And instead you're interrogating me! He went to a bar, got drunk and went back to the apartment to kill her!"

"How do you know he was at the bar?" asked Jamie as if he was actually interested in what Norman was saying,

"Because he's always there!"

Ryan shook his head fiercely; he scrapped his chair back and slowly walked around the table and leaned over Norman's shoulder so one hand rested on the table. "That is where you are wrong" Ryan growled as he leaned closer to Norman's face, "We talked to the barman, Barry hadn't been there in _months_."

"He must be lying!" cried Norman; he was clenching his fists in agitation.

Esposito looked at the scene and knew if he was in there with Ryan he would stand up and move his chair so he was sitting next to the suspect; boxing Norman in. He grinned when Jamie stood up, but instead of moving his chair nearer to Norman, Jamie sat on the edge of the table. Meaning Norman was boxed in and left the two Detectives with a height advantage making themselves look more imposing.

"He's not. We're Detectives we can tell when someone is lying" stated Jamie; he didn't say it in a threatening way, just matter of factly. Nevertheless, Norman gulped.

"They got him" commented Renzulli, Esposito turned and smiled.

Ryan leaned back, walked back to the wall and slouched against it with crossed arms, the file in his hands. "We've got evidence of you leaving Tamara's apartment during the window of time of death with the murder weapon in your pocket."

"You're wrong!" shrieked Norman.

Quick as a flash Ryan was storming across the room and slammed open the file with a screen shot of Norman leaving the apartment building. "Camera footage _doesn't lie_!"

"But I-"

"Stop playing games Norman!" yelled Ryan, "We know you did it!"

"Just tell us what happened" added Jamie. Ryan moved so his back was to the observation window and Esposito knew his partner had his arms crossed and would be glaring down at Norman.

"Okay fine!" sighed Norman. "I went to see her and picked the lock because she wouldn't let me in. I told her I knew where Barry was and that I could get him out of her life. She said no and I…I just snapped!" and then he broke down sobbing into his hands. Ryan relaxed and then placed a pen and paper on the table for Norman to write down what happened.

"Wow" murmured Renzulli,

"What?" asked Esposito, looking from Renzulli to what was happening in the Interrogation Room.

"I've known Ryan since he was a rookie. I knew he was a good cop, growing up around the Reagans must have brushed off on him." Esposito snorted in amusement. "But I've never seen him interrogate someone. And I have to say it's quite a show."

"Yeah. It is" smiled Esposito, "I can always get you in there for a front row seat."

"No thanks" chuckled Renzulli, "I won't be able to keep up with him at the rate he changes his attitude towards the suspect."

Esposito chuckled, when he first became Ryan's partner he had to admit it took some time for him to get used to Ryan's way of interrogation. But while he hadn't been able to keep up with Ryan in the beginning he had to admit, Ryan got good results.

* * *

Jamie walked over to his desk with Ryan close behind him; Renzulli was taking Norman and his confession over to the 10th enabling Barry to go free. Esposito was leaning against his own desk glaring at Ryan.

"Okay Javi I'm sorry!" said Ryan, Jamie smirked as he saw Esposito's glare hadn't lessened.

"You left me with _two_ stacks of paperwork that had to be done _today_!" grumbled Esposito.

"I couldn't let Jamie handle a case like this on his own! The Detectives from the 10th wouldn't have let him look into it and an innocent man would be going to jail!" argued Ryan, as he side-stepped Esposito and stood beside his own desk. Jamie just stood on the side-line enjoying the show.

Esposito pointed a finger accusingly at Ryan, "You did _not_ help Jamie out as a friend. You only jumped at the chance to ditch your paperwork and leave it to _me_!"

Ryan began chuckling as he grabbed his coat, he grinned at his friends and began walking to the elevator. Esposito huffed in annoyance while Jamie laughed that Ryan had neither confirmed nor denied Esposito's statement.

Jamie realized that he couldn't have landed any better Division to start his Detective career in. He had a long-time friend working with him who was prepared to help him out (even if it happened to get him out of doing paperwork) and he knew life was never going to be dull working out of the 12th precincts Homicide Division.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Interestingly I found out that the Major Case Squad doesn't actually solve murders. So for this story Danny won't be investigating any homicides, I'll leave that for Jamie and the others :P.

Jamie had been a Homicide Detective for six weeks and already he had quite a few arrests under his belt which he was really proud of. His grandfather had commented that at the rate he was going he was going to get more arrests in his first year of being a Detective than Danny (who currently held the family record for that).

He and Ryan were beginning to work on their second case together; a business man had been shot in the back as he was walking down the street. (Ryan had jokingly commented that as it seemed to be a completely random shooting that it was really going to test Jamie's investigative skills as a Homicide Detective.) Harris was off sick and Esposito was helping Beckett tie up some lose ends on their current case before they made an arrest. Jamie had been prepared to work on the case alone until Harris came back. But Gates, remembering how well he and Ryan worked together three weeks ago decided to put Ryan on the case, she had said for his first random homicide she wanted him to have someone there to guide him through it as that type of case needed slightly different approaches. So he and Ryan were sat at their desks just waiting for Ballistics to come back so they then could decide on what step they were going to take next.

Jamie turned hearing his name being called and saw Danny striding through the bull pen towards him. He frowned in confusion as he got to his feet, Ryan sent him a questioning look which he returned with a shrug, he had no idea why Danny was coming to see him.

"Hey kid" greeted Danny in a rush, Jamie then remembered yesterday there had been an armed robbery of a bank and Danny was investigating it.

"Hey Danny" responded Jamie, "What can I do for you? You decided to come and try out the expensive coffee machine?"

"If only" sighed Danny, "Look kid you know that random shooting you're working on?"

"What about it?...Hang on how did you know that was my case? It only just happened this morning!" frowned Jamie.

Danny rubbed the back on his neck as Ryan walked over hearing their case mentioned, "Danny."

"Hey Kevin" smiled Danny, he then looked between them. "As any good Detectives you sent off the bullet that killed your vic of too Ballistics. Well, I was looking into some possible suspects for my case when Ballistics called me to say a bullet used in a homicide, the one you're investigating. Is a match to a bullet fired as a warning shot in my case."

"Wait" said Jamie in disbelief. "The murderer robbed a bank at gun point yesterday; firing off a warning shot and then used the _same gun_ in a random shooting today. Do they not think we'll get a Ballistic match?!"

Ryan snorted, "And this goes to show that not all criminals are as smart as some people make them out to be."

Danny nodded in agreement, "So as the same gun was used in both cases I thought that I could also work on your case and keep you updated with what I find."

The smiles dropped off Ryan's and Jamie's faces pretty quickly, Ryan shot Jamie a look. So Jamie began pulling Danny into the break room. There was no way he was going to let Danny take over his case and he knew once he told Danny this, his older brother was going to hit the roof. Better to have this conversation in private. He saw Ryan breathe a sigh of relief, Ryan had seen first-hand Danny's temper growing up and Jamie knew his friend did not want the famous Danny Reagan temper directed at him. Jamie could hardly blame him and seeing as Danny was his brother it was only fair that Jamie tell Danny that he's not getting their case.

"What are you doing Jamie?" questioned Danny with narrowed eyes.

Once all the doors had been closed Jamie turned so he was facing Danny and decided to just get the conversation over with, at least it was Tuesday so he had six days until Sunday dinner, meaning six days to be able to avoid Danny.

Jamie took a deep breath, "Look Danny I'm just gonna come out and say it. You're not taking our case."

"And why not?" asked Danny in a low voice with narrowed eyes.

 _Great he's annoyed already. Oh well no point in trying to keep things peaceful. At least we're in the break room and not in the middle of the bull pen._ Thought Jamie, through the window he caught a glimpse of Ryan pretending to look at a file, but really he was watching them.

"Because my case is a homicide and I'm a _Homicide Detective_. And last time I checked, the Major Case Squad didn't investigate homicides" replied Jamie crossing his arms.

Danny's eyes narrowed further, "Obviously you weren't listening so I'll say it again. Ballistics was a match! The same gun was used! The cases are _connected_!"

"And that's the _only_ thing connecting them!" retorted Jamie, beginning to get frustrated at his brother.

"That's a pretty big connection kid!" snapped Danny, he took a step closer to Jamie but Jamie stood his ground.

"No its not!" exclaimed Jamie frustratingly as he threw his arms up in the air. "For all you know your suspect could have given the gun to somebody else knowing that if they ever used that gun again they could be arrested for both crimes! You don't have the gun; I don't have the gun so we don't even have any fingerprints to go on!"

Danny leaned closer and growled, "Do I need to go over your head kid?"

"Go ahead" jeered Jamie, "But we both know Captain Gates will back me up. Just connecting the cases with Ballistics isn't enough as your suspect could easily have tossed the gun. Find something more definitive and maybe I'll let you _help_ with the case."

Danny raised a hand that was bawled into a fist that was dangerously close to Jamie's face, but he dropped his hand and stalked out of the room wrenching the door open before heading towards the elevator.

Jamie let out the breath he had been holding before walking back to his desk, Ryan looked up at him, "That looked like it went well."

"In opposite land maybe" responded Jamie, he shook himself and then grabbed his jacket, "I think we should go to the victims work and see if he had any problems with anyone."

"Good idea" nodded Ryan, "But don't you think you should wait a little longer to be sure Danny has already left the precinct?"

Jamie smiled, "Even if he hasn't I can handle it. And besides you and Joe defended me from bullies growing up."

Ryan stood up putting his own jacket on, "Yeah but back then I had Joe backing me up and I never had to defend you from Danny. The _only_ time I'm defending you from Danny is when I've got you and Espo backing me up! With you guys stood between me and him!"

"Your loyalty astounds me" commented Jamie dryly.

* * *

When speaking to their victim's work colleagues they discovered that he had been the cause for getting his secretary, Melinda Chambers, fired two days ago. And interestingly she had not gone quietly. Her former colleagues gave them her address and so on their way back to the precinct they decided to stop by her apartment. They had been knocking for ten minutes and Melinda had not answered the door.

"I guess she's not in" stated Jamie, "And we have no clue as to where she could be."

"Come on" gestured Ryan, "Let's head back to the precinct and see what we can dig up."

As they walked back into the bull pen and as Jamie peeled off to get some coffee Ryan continued over to his desk and hearing his approach Esposito spun his chair around. When Ryan saw the look on Esposito's face he asked, "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?! What's _wrong_?!" exclaimed Esposito in frustration. "What's wrong is that this is the second time in three weeks that you have avoided doing paperwork for our cases!"

"Um…technically I'm not avoiding paperwork" Ryan pointed out as he sat on the edge of his desk with his arms crossed, "The time I 'avoided' doing the paperwork for our case while I helped Jamie out, I still did the paperwork for that case."

Jamie then approached and handed Ryan a mug of coffee as he sipped from his own and sat himself in his chair.

"What? No coffee for me?!" demanded Esposito as he glared at Jamie.

Ryan chuckled at the worried look on Jamie's face and had a hard time not laughing aloud at Jamie's quiet response.

"I only have two hands"

"Well you should have found a way" snarked Esposito.

Ryan twisted around so he was looking at Jamie, "You'll have to excuse my friend here. He gets a little cranky when he has to do paperwork with no coffee."

Esposito sharply got to his feet holding a file and pointed at Ryan, "If you ditch me with _your_ paperwork again I promise that. You. Are. A dead man!"

"If you're gonna kill me could you give me some warning so I can pick out my photo for the murder board?" grinned Ryan.

Esposito glared at him as he began walking over to Beckett's desk mumbling under his breath. Chuckling Ryan sat himself in his chair and looked over at Jamie's shocked face. "What?"

"Is it wise to be antagonising him?"

Ryan shrugged, "We're just joking around."

Jamie raised an eyebrow, "Joking? That did _not_ look like joking to me."

"Ah well once you get to know Esposito you learn that he threatens suspects but he jokes around with his fellow cops."

Jamie shrugged, "Okay. But while you and Esposito were 'joking around' I did a search on Melinda Chambers and I found that her husband, Alan Chambers, has a few priors for assault and he's a freelancer engineer of sorts and he has his own warehouse."

"Let's go check it out" commented Ryan as he drank the last of his coffee while writing down the address on a notepad on his desk for filling out the paperwork later. As he walked out of the bull pen he heard Jamie say that if they found anything that he was going to call Danny, Ryan nodded as he waved over at Esposito who just glared at him. Ryan figured he was gonna have to buy his friend a few beers as an apology.

* * *

Jamie and Ryan arrived at the warehouse and upon entering is seemed like no one was there, but they couldn't really tell as someone had built a series of walls in the warehouse creating rooms. As they began walking towards a door Jamie stopped when he spotted some bags. He approached them and opened them to find piles of money.

"Ryan I think we've got the guy, for the murder and the robbery" called Jamie; Ryan jogged over and nodded in agreement. Jamie pulled out his cell phone to call Danny, neither he nor Ryan spotting the approaching shadow.

Danny answered after a few seconds, _"What kid?"_

But before Jamie could say anything Ryan from the corner of his eye saw movement and Jamie accidentally pressed the end button as he was hit over the head and fell into the all-consuming darkness, with no idea what was happening with Ryan.

* * *

Danny frowned at his cell phone when Jamie hung up on him. He called Jamie back but with no answer he shrugged thinking that Jamie must have called him by mistake. He felt like banging his head against his desk. He and Maria weren't making any progress with their case and they were beginning to grasp at straws. He hoped Jamie was having better luck with his murder case. Danny then growled to himself remembering Jamie telling him earlier that he couldn't have the case to work as he looked at the armed robbery.

Maria looked up and sighed at him, "You're not still angry about Jamie telling you, you couldn't work the homicide are you?" The look Danny gave her told her that he still was. "Look Danny, in terms of the case and it being a murder. The _Homicide Division_ gets priority over it as we don't investigate homicides. Besides you _hate it_ when someone comes in and gets themselves on your case or takes it off you. Even I hate it, everyone does. So that is how Jamie felt when you tried muscling your way onto his case."

Danny sighed and the tension left his shoulders. "I guess you're right."

"You guess?" smirked Maria.

"Alright. _Fine_. Yes you're right" smiled Danny rolling his eyes.

"Thank you" grinned Maria, "Now why don't you go over there and apologize to Jamie. And while you might not be on the homicide case Jamie may have some information we could use."

Danny nodded as he grabbed his jacket and began walking out of the squad. With Maria's words repeating around his head he felt like smacking himself. She was right, he hated it when people told him they were now solving his case, so he didn't know why he was so hung up on trying to take Jamie's case off his brother. He had a lot of apologizing to do.

He stepped out of the elevator and looked around the 12th's Homicide Division's bull pen for any sign of his brother, he didn't see Kevin either but he saw Kevin's partner Esposito.

"Hey Esposito do you know where Jamie is?" asked Danny as he approached Ryan's partner.

Esposito nodded, "Yeah. He and Ryan went off nearly an hour ago to check out a possible lead, I heard him saying that he was gonna call you if they found anything. Why?"

"He called me a little while ago and when I answered he hung up and when I tried calling him back he didn't answer" Danny replied worriedly.

Esposito's eyes widened, "Do you think?"

"That's something's wrong. Yeah I think there is" nodded Danny. Esposito got up and crossed to Ryan's desk looking for the notepad his friend kept with addresses they went to, sure enough there was the address where he and Jamie had gone. Esposito had never been so glad of his friend's habit until now. Soon Danny and Esposito were charging out of the bull pen hoping that they weren't too late.

* * *

Jamie groaned as he opened his eyes, while he was a little disorientated he knew his hands had been tied behind his back. He blinked open his eyes and saw Ryan lying across the small room from him.

"Ryan? Ryan! Kevin!" called Jamie; he began to panic until Ryan began groaning.

"Ugh" groaned Ryan as he opened his eyes. After struggling for a few moments they both managed to sit themselves up, which was hard considering they didn't have the use of their hands.

Jamie looked around saw that they were in an empty room which didn't appear to have a door, but a hatch in the ceiling. He figured that he and Ryan must have been dropped down it and one of the walls was just a wall of glass. Squinting his eyes could see his and Ryan's badges, guns and cell phones in a small pile on the other side of the glass. He turned back to Ryan who had also noticed where their things were. Jamie opened his mouth to say something when they heard a door slam, he froze and through the shadows on the other side of the glass wall approached Alan Chambers.

"Thank you for dropping by Detectives" grinned Alan, "You have given me the opportunity to test out my little project."

Looking at the man in front of them Jamie knew Alan was waiting for them to say something, they didn't. Ryan and Jamie just sat there looking at their captive.

"Ah not the talkative type then are we?" stated Alan, "No matter. I'll explain anyway, there is a switch on my side of the glass wall and once I pull it water will begin to fill the room you're in."

Jamie sat in stunned silence, realizing that if someone didn't realize they needed help. He and Ryan were going to drown.

"Why are you doing this Alan?" demanded Ryan, who looked part worried and part angry.

"Because I can" shrugged Alan as he flicked the switch, he then turned around and walked out of the room.

Jamie looked down at the floor and could only watch with a strange sense of fascination as water quickly began flowing into the room. For some reason he expected the water to flow into the room slowly, but it was more like a fast flowing river.

"Jamie stand up!" ordered Ryan as he struggled to his feet.

Jamie positioned himself so he was resting on his bent knees; he then kicked out one of his legs and somehow managed to haul himself to his feet. Once they were both standing, they simultaneously began ramming the glass wall with their shoulders. The glass didn't even shake and with a desperate edge they put more force into ramming the glass. After a few minutes with sore and bruised shoulders they admitted defeat, by this point the water was already reaching their stomachs. Jamie leaned his back against the wall and shared a despairing look with Ryan. There was nothing more they could do but wait and hope that someone would come and save them before they drowned. He turned his head hearing a ringing sound and saw his cell phone's screen light up and as he looked closer he saw the caller ID showing it was Danny. Ryan also turned and looked when his phone began ringing, he sighed seeing it was Esposito calling him.

Jamie then grew angry at the thought that at the rate things were going Danny was going to lose another brother. So he began to tug his arms sharply hoping to loosen the ropes binding his hands, but they wouldn't budge.

Five minutes later the water was so high Jamie and Ryan had to tread water, they were a few feet from the ground, so if they were to stand on the ground the water would be way above their heads. Jamie's legs were beginning to grow tired and his head kept dipping below the surface of the water.

"Come on Jamie, keep fighting" encouraged Ryan, as he spat out water. They kept encouraging each other but they both knew they were beginning to grow too tired to keep treading water, that and the fact that the water was already filling up three quarters of the room. Another five minutes and they wouldn't be able to hold their heads above the water. They both hissed in pain as their legs began to cramp, distantly they heard shouting from somewhere, but before Jamie could think about it he sank below the surface of the water and he didn't have the strength to pull himself back up, he heard Ryan calling his name. As he sank he looked up and saw that the water must have reached the ceiling of the room as Ryan was now also below the surface.

_I'm sorry Danny._

* * *

Danny cuffed Alan Chambers and spun him around, "What have you done to the two Detectives who were here? Where are they?!"

Alan smirked, "Their experiencing first hand my little project I've been working on."

Danny felt a huge wave of dread wash over him and just watched as Esposito shook Alan hard. "What have you done?!"

"I haven't done much; I just stuck them in a room. But depending on how well they can tread water will determine whether they're still alive. But after this amount of time I don't think treading water will help" Alan grinned widely, his eyes flickered over to a door.

Danny and Esposito startled when they heard a muffled voice, which sounded a lot like Ryan, calling Jamie's name. Danny shoved Alan towards a waiting Patrol Officer, he and Esposito then began running to the door. They burst through it and immediately saw a huge glass wall, which had water behind it. They approached slowly and muttered curses when they saw Ryan's and Jamie's things in a small pile. As they stood in front of the glass they were horrified to find Jamie and Ryan sinking below the surface of the water. They stepped back and drew their guns, they fired shots at the glass and watched as the glass cracked and broke. The water came rushing out of the room as if it was tumbling down a waterfall. Ryan and Jamie were swept out of the room and came to a stop just past where the glass wall used to stand.

Ryan tried to sit himself up as he spluttered, Esposito rushed to his side and untied his hands and pounded on his back to help him cough up the water he had swallowed. Danny hurried to his brother's side, worried because Jamie wasn't moving.

He knelt beside Jamie and felt for a pulse, he sighed in relief when he felt one and relaxed a little more when he saw Jamie was breathing. He untied Jamie's hands and turned his brother onto his side and, like Esposito; he began pounding Jamie's back. Jamie soon broke out into hacking coughs as he coughed up the water he had swallowed and blinked open his eyes. Danny looked up hearing Ryan sigh in relief, Esposito was resting an arm across Ryan's shoulders and letting his friend lean against him as he called for two ambulances.

Danny looked back at Jamie when he heard his brother's croaky voice, "Danny?"

"I'm here kid" smiled Danny,

Jamie blinked up at him, "Looks like you got here just in time."

"Yeah" choked Danny, "You scared me there little brother."

"Sorry" murmured Jamie in a hoarse voice.

"It ain't your fault kid" comforted Danny as he knelt at Jamie's side waiting for the EMT's. "Sorry about trying to take your case of you."

"It's okay" mumbled Jamie, "Just don't do it again."

"You got it" nodded Danny.

Jamie heard Esposito state that the ambulances weren't far away and looked up at Danny, "Am I gonna have to go to the hospital?"

"Probably" confirmed Danny.

Jamie sighed, "Just great. This day just gets worse." Danny found that he couldn't help but laugh at his brother's statement, knowing that his brother was just fine if he was complaining about going to the hospital.

* * *

Esposito entered his friend's hospital room and found Ryan sat up in his hospital bed with not a happy look on his face. Ryan snapped his head around at Esposito's entrance.

"Are they gonna let me go?" asked Ryan with a hopeful look on his face.

"Nope sorry. They're gonna keep you a little longer, but you will be able to go home by this evening" replied Esposito as he crossed the room to sit in the chair beside the bed.

Ryan sighed loudly, "Javi just get me out of here!"

Esposito began chuckling at the annoyed look on his friend's face, "It's just a hospital Kevin, nothing bad is gonna happen."

"Oh yeah?" countered Ryan, "how can you be so sure?"

Esposito frowned, he didn't know what it was but there was something off with his friend. Looking closer he noticed how uncomfortable Ryan looked, and it wasn't just from the hospital gown. "Hey what's the problem?"

"I just want to get out of here" replied Ryan softly, not meeting Esposito's gaze.

"I know" said Esposito, "But you almost drowned so they gotta keep you for a few hours for observation."

"I almost drowned when Lockwood had my head dunked in icy water and I went home then!" commented Ryan frustratingly, as he picked at the hospital blanket.

"Because you were being so damn stubborn!" countered Esposito. "You really hate hospitals that much?"

"What gave that away?" commented Ryan dryly.

"When was the last time you came to a hospital willingly, patient or visitor?"

"The night I was told Joe had been killed." *

Esposito widened his eyes, "Oh Kevin-"

"Don't give me that pitying look or tone!" demanded Ryan as he turned to look at Esposito, "Look I just got it into my head that if I didn't come to a hospital then I wouldn't get any bad news."

"So you've gone five years without going to a hospital?" asked Esposito shocked.

"Apart from when Beckett was shot yeah" nodded Ryan.

Esposito gave Ryan a small smile, "I'll just sit here and keep you company, time will soon fly by and you'll be outta here before you know it."

* * *

Three hours later Ryan and Jamie were discharged from the hospital and ordered to take the next day off work. Danny and Esposito informed them that Alan Chambers had robbed the bank and killed his wife's former boss. Melinda had been the one brining in most of the money so with her without a job Alan decided he needed to rob a bank as they were in need of money and he then killed Melinda's boss because he blamed him for causing him to resort to robbing a bank.

Danny took Jamie home and stayed with his brother for a while to reassure himself that his brother was fine and not going anywhere. Esposito took Ryan home to Jenny and Sarah-Grace, Jenny invited him to stay for dinner so he sat comfortable next to Ryan on the couch watching TV with Sarah-Grace sat on her father's lap.

All was as it should be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * is a reference to my story Making it Home.
> 
> I probably won't update this story for a while due to a lack of ideas, but thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry for the huge amount of time it has taken for me to post a chapter, I promise I hadn’t forgotten about this story! But because of my lack of ideas for this story I ended up staying away for far longer than I had intended. 
> 
> Eddie will be in future chapters of this story, but since I’ve been at university the past two years, since Eddie’s introduction. I haven’t been able to watch much Blue Bloods (especially season 5, I did watch season 4 but it has been so long since I’ve seen any of the episodes!) so I’m not writing a lot of stuff with Eddie. So I’m sorry if people were expecting to see a lot of Jamie/Eddie moments and I do love those two but I don’t know if I could do them justice. That may well change once I’ve gone home for the holiday, I can binge watch Blue Bloods then! : )
> 
> Also I know some people have asked me for more Beckett and Castle in this story but, I wanted this story to be mostly about my favourite characters in the two series, (Jamie, Ryan and Esposito) as they don’t always get as much screen time as the others (but I do agree this is changing) and Beckett and Castle get LOADS of screen time (the series is about them I know) but they also have a lot of fan stories about them as well. So sorry if you wanted/expected a lot of them in this, but they won’t be. But I’m not saying they won’t appear in this story because they will! (Beckett is in this chapter far more than Ryan and Espo!). Anyway I hope this factor hasn’t turned you away from this story! And I hope you enjoy this chapter!

It had been a month since the whole Alan Chambers mess when Jamie and Kevin had almost drowned, but one other good outcome had come from it. Jamie and Eddie were now officially dating. Once Eddie had heard about what had happened after her two days off, she had rushed up to the fourth floor and spotting Jamie stood beside his desk. Eddie had run to him and hugged him tightly. Reassuring herself that Jamie was alive and safe. Jamie had peaked over her shoulder to see Harris, Ryan, Esposito and Castle all smiling at him, he had known this time he’d get a free pass on the teasing, but knew all bets were off next time.

Jamie had a picture of himself and Eddie on his desk, a picture, which had been taken by his grandfather, one Sunday afternoon when Eddie and Jamie had been mucking around with the kids in the backyard. He smiled at it as he took a moment to stretch his back. He and Harris had been spending most of the morning sorting out the paperwork for the latest case they had solved.

He stifled a yawn and jumped when a coffee mug was placed in front of him. He looked up to see Beckett perched on the end of his desk smiling at him.

“You looked like you could use some coffee,” she grinned as he yawned again.

Jamie smirked, “You were completely right.” He sighed in pleasure as the hot beverage slid down his throat.

“I am a Detective,” chuckled Beckett. She then grew serious, “You did good spotting the details in your vic’s timeline. Which got the confession from your suspect. Not many would have spotted what you did. You’ve got a good eye, which undoubtedly with some more time. Will make you into a great Detective.”

Jamie gaped in shock; Beckett was never one to throw around compliments. And what shocked him even more was that she had taken notice of what he was doing in a case she wasn’t working.

“…Thanks…” stammered Jamie.

Beckett smiled, “But don’t wear yourself out. You push yourself harder than some of the other Detectives that have been here longer than me. You don’t have anything to prove.”

“But I sorta do,” commented Jamie softly, half shrugging. “With my surname I’ll get all sorts of attention. And I need to prove to those watching that I don’t use my surname for any personal gain.”

Beckett half smiled and nodded, “I forget that in NYPD circles you’re as much of a celebrity as Castle.”

“Not that much!” laughed Jamie, shaking his head.

Beckett smirked, “Well you don’t show off as much as Castle, but you defiantly get as much as attention as he does. You just don’t have people clambering for your autograph.”

“Thank goodness for that!” exclaimed Jamie, “I don’t think I could deal with that! I don’t even think I could do what my dad does with all the media attention he gets!”

“So no looking to be the third PC of the Reagan family?” teased Beckett.

“Nah” responded Jamie shaking his head, “as a former PC’s grandson, and the currant PC’s son. I see what goes on being the PC and that’s not for me. If I wanted a diplomatic job where I’d have to explore both side to the argument, I would have stayed in Law. I prefer a more hands on approach.”

Beckett nodded, “Well with your eye for details. I see you going far.” Beckett smiled at him for a beat longer and then gestured to his coffee, “I’ll leave you with your coffee.”

“Thanks Beckett!” called Jamie as he watched Beckett walk back towards her desk where Ryan, Esposito and Castle were currently puzzling over their latest case. Beckett turned and nodded and then she was completely focused on her case.

Jamie spared one more glance at the picture on his desk and as he filled out the paperwork he took sips from his coffee. Which gave him much needed energy to fill out the boring paperwork. All the while smirking at Harris’ bored expression. Harris appeared to hate paperwork even more than Danny.

* * *

 

The next time Jamie looked up from his paperwork it was half twelve and he was starving, just as his stomach rumbled he had another visitor to his desk.

“Looks like I came just at the right time.”

Jamie looked up to find his grandfather stood in front of his desk holding up a take away bag from their favourite sandwich bar.

“Hey Grandpa,” beamed Jamie, he gave Henry a one armed hug and then led the older man into the break room. Henry took a seat when Jamie got them some drinks from the vending machine.

“So how’s your day been?” asked Henry as he watched Jamie taken an enormous bite from his sandwich. “Hey take it easy!” he chuckled, “I don’t want you choking on me!”

Jamie shot Henry a sheepish grin, then after swallowing he replied. “Pretty quiet. Just been finishing paperwork.”

“So the case you were discussing on Sunday all solved then?” inquired Henry. He always took an interest in the cases his grandsons worked. In a way it helped him feel still in touch with the goings on in the force, and also allowed his grandsons to bounce off ideas with someone other than their partner.

“Yep,” grinned Jamie.

“That didn’t take you long!” exclaimed Henry, half in shock and half in admiration. “You said the murder happened Thursday, Sunday you said, you and Harris had basically nothing to go on. Now it’s Tuesday and you’re filling out the paperwork meaning you solved it yesterday!”

“Just got lucky I guess,” shrugged Jamie.

“Lucky. Huh.” Commented Henry, he knew when his youngest grandson wasn’t telling him something. But he decided to let this one go. For now. He could always talk to Kevin. So he decided to change the subject. “So how’s things with Eddie?” Eddie hadn’t come for dinner on Sunday because she had a shift, and despite the short amount of time she had been at the table, her presence was missed.

Jamie’s face broke out into a broad smile, “Everything’s great. I passed Renzulli yesterday while I was waiting for Eddie. He shot me a knowing look. So I guess it was all a matter of time, and probably a little obvious.”

“Yeah, a ‘little’” grinned Henry.

Jamie just rolled his eyes in response and continued to eat his sandwich. Henry just chuckled and started to talk about random little things with Jamie. He always enjoyed the time he spent with Jamie.

To him, Jamie would always be that little six year old sat on his grandfather’s lap listening to all sorts of (toned down for little years) stories about the job. Seeing the sparks in Jamie’s eyes, Henry had always known Jamie would be a cop. And sure enough he had been right.

And bearing in mind Jamie’s closure rate in his first three months as a Detective, he would become one of the best Detective’s the city had ever seen. Henry put that down to Jamie’s own initiative, but also what he had learnt in Law school. At Harvard Jamie had been taught to spot the flaws in cases and put them together to make solid cases. So Jamie’s initiative and lessons had given him the ability to have great eyes for details.

Despite what Danny might or might not say to his little brother’s face, Henry knew Danny was immensely proud of the Detective his brother was becoming. They all were.

* * *

 

Soon lunch was all eaten and Henry was getting ready to leave, when Harris, also on his cell phone, gestured to Jamie. Signalling they had another case.

“Good thing we’ve just finished our paperwork,” commented Jamie dryly.

Henry laughed, “Just take it easy kid and if its another busy case I’ll stop by with lunch tomorrow.”

“Sounds great Grandpa!” grinned Jamie, he patted Henry on the shoulder and then he dashed towards his desk, and grabbed his jacket. With one more smile at Henry he was jogging after Harris.

* * *

 

Jamie clambered out of the car and strode down the sidewalk beside Harris towards the alleyway where the body was. It was a recent murder; twenty minutes go dispatch had received a 911 call of shots fired. So they were hoping to catch the killer soon, before they could get out of the area. Because a pair of patrol officers were one street away and had made their way to the scene after hearing the gunshots. So Jamie was hoping the murderer had not had the chance to escape the area.

* * *

 

Well he was right in that aspect, but later Jamie would wish he had been wrong.

He and Harris had been talking as they walked towards the body when things took a deadly turn.

* * *

 

“Hey when your Grandpa stops by with lunch tomorrow do you think he’ll bring me some?” asked Harris with a teasing glint in his eyes.

“Maybe” shrugged Jamie smiling, “But don’t you have a wife and two kids to come by and bring you some lunch?”

“You’d think so,” grinned Harris, “But my kids are at the age when the stuff they’re ‘cooking’ could be considered lethal. So I’d rather they not stop by and get themselves arrested for accidental manslaughter.”

Jamie chuckled, he had to admit the cookies Harris’ two young children, Lucy aged six and Jordan aged four, had brought by for him were as hard as rocks. He had been worried his was going to break a tooth.

“Well maybe you should give them some cooking lessons. Seeing as you’re the one who cooks in your house,” suggested Jamie.

Harris smiled and nodded, “You may have a point there Reag-”

BANG! BANG!

As Jamie dived to the ground he shouted out, “GET DOWN!” From his sprawled out position he turned his head and saw Harris lying flat on his back gasping as he stared up at the sky. Wide-eyed Jamie was thrust back into a memory he hadn’t thought about since Castle asked him about Vinny on his first day as a Detective.

_“10-13! 10-13! Officer’s been shot! Bitterman houses, main quad! … Vinny get up man! Get up come on! Come on get up!”_

Jamie shook himself and ignoring the still flying bullets he crawled towards Harris, “Harris! Look at me!” ordered Jamie. He reached Harris and saw his partner had taken a shot to the abdomen. He looked over and saw patrol officers covering each other as they moved towards the building where the shots were coming from. He reached for the radio on his belt. “10-13! I repeat 10-13! Shots fired! At this location! Officer down! Officer down!”

Jamie dropped the radio beside him and pressed down with both hands on Harris’ wound.

“Come on Harris stay with me,” he looked down at Harris’ unfocused eyes and all Jamie could think was. _Not again, oh please not again!_

“William!” barked Jamie. That got Harris’ eyes to focus on him. “You’ve got to stay awake!”

Harris jerked his head once in understanding; he had his hands clenched into fists. Jamie could see his partner was trying to stay awake, but it seemed Harris was fighting what seemed to be a losing battle. Jamie looked up hearing a wail of approaching sirens, just as the gunshots ended and a voice over the radio confirmed the shooter was apprehended.

“Hear that Will? Everything’s under control so just stay with me,” ordered Jamie. He wouldn’t lose another partner, he just couldn’t. But as he looked at Harris he could only watch in despair as Harris’ eyes slipped closed as the ambulance and a bunch of squad cars stopped.

_“Will!”_


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is split into three POVs, one of which is Eddie's. I hope I've got her character right, as I love her on the show! Anyway thanks for taking the time to read this!

Ryan, Esposito, Beckett and Castle were all having a late lunch after solving their latest case. They were all laughing and joking, but the atmosphere changed when the three radios belonging to the Detectives all crackled to life. With the two words every police officer dreaded.

Officer down.

They all bolted for their squad cars and with sirens blazing joined the small stream of marked squad cars and the ambulance to the scene. As Esposito was slowing down Ryan was opening the door to the car before it came to full halt.

“Ryan!” yelled Esposito, trying to get his partner to wait for him because they had no idea what they were walking into. But Ryan didn’t hear him. When Esposito had been breaking the car Ryan had caught a glimpse of Jamie. Who was crouched down and Ryan had no way of knowing if the person had looked out for growing up was injured badly.

As he ran closer he heard Jamie’s strangled cry, _“Will!”_

Ryan took in the situation and waved to the EMTs to hurry up, he knelt beside Jamie and with one arm wrapped around Jamie’s shoulders he pulled his friend back a little. So he was out of the way, but could still see his partner.

He looked closer at Jamie to make sure his friend wasn’t hurt, but the blood on Jamie’s hands was from Harris’ wound. Jamie was pale and his blank eyes were trained on Harris. Ryan figured Jamie must be trapped somewhere between the past and the present. He found he couldn’t look at Harris, once; one of his best friend’s had been an officer down. And he hadn’t come home.

“Jamie,” stated Ryan. _“Jamie.”_

But Jamie wasn’t listening. Ryan rested his free arm on his knee and covered his face with his hand. He had no clue what to say. While he and Jamie had been close growing up, it was Joe who always knew what to say. But Joe wasn’t here.

Ryan jumped when a hand came to rest on his shoulder. He found himself looking up into Esposito’s worried gaze. So Ryan just shot him a half-hearted smile and then turned back to Jamie. Not wanting to talk Esposito just yet. Seeing that the EMTs were about to take Harris to the waiting ambulance, Ryan wrapped his other arm around Jamie and began to pull his friend to his feet. This snapped Jamie of his daze and he began to struggle with Ryan to try and follow Harris.

“Jamie, stop,” ordered Ryan. While he knew Jamie wanted to be with his partner, Ryan was thinking about the worst-case scenario. Harris was badly injured and if he died in the ambulance, then Jamie would be sat there with no other friend there with him. No, Ryan was _not_ going to let Jamie witness the death of another friend and partner.

Jamie’s struggles stopped and Ryan held his friend in a half embrace. Once the ambulance had left, and Ryan had learnt that Harris was being taken to St. Victor’s, he began to lead Jamie over to the squad car Jamie and Harris had arrived in. He knew Esposito would talk to him soon, but he wanted to put that off for as long as possible. He wanted to concentrate on Jamie. So he gently pushed Jamie into the passenger seat and then jogged around to the driver’s side. He opened the door and spotted Esposito stood not too far away, with Beckett and Castle, staring at him in concern. He nodded at his friends in reassurance, and then he got into the driver’s seat. Before driving away he took Jamie’s cell phone and called Eddie.

 _“Hey Jamie,”_ answered Eddie cheerfully.

“Eddie this is Detective Ryan,” commented Ryan, not really knowing how he was going to explain the situation. He cast a glance over to Jamie to see his friend was staring at his blood-covered hands in silence. Ryan grabbed a tissue and gently pressed it into Jamie’s hands. While Jamie was in a daze, he still began to rub as much of the blood off his hands as he could. What worried Ryan was that Jamie still hadn’t noticed Ryan had taken his cell phone and was currently talking to his girlfriend.

The sharp intake of breath on the other end of the phone caught Ryan’s attention once again.

 _“Detective Ryan. What’s happened?”_ asked Eddie in a strangled voice.

Ryan decided it would be better for Eddie if he just bluntly told her what had happened. “Jamie and Harris arrived at a murder scene, the shooter was in a nearby building and opened fired. Jamie isn’t injured but…”

 _“But?”_ prompted Eddie, with a small amount of relief in her voice.

“Harris was hit pretty bad. Jamie’s in shock,” replied Ryan, glad to see that the blank look in Jamie’s eyes was beginning to fade.

 _“Oh God,”_ murmured Eddie, _“Jamie doesn’t need that. He’s already lost Vinny.”_

“Harris is going to St. Victor’s and I’m taking Jamie there. We should be there in about ten minutes.” Stated Ryan as he looked past Jamie to stare at the bloodstain left by Harris.

 _“Right,”_ said Eddie as she cleared her throat. _“Me and Ellis are about five minutes out from St. Vic’s so I’ll meet you there.”_

“Okay,” replied Ryan before hanging up.

“Who was that?” asked a faint voice.

Ryan turned his eyes back to Jamie and smiled softly, “That was Eddie. She’s meeting us at the hospital.”

Jamie nodded and then he paled even further. Ryan shot out a hand worried that Jamie was about to pass out. “Does my dad know? What about Harris’ wife?!”

“Hey calm down! Okay?” hushed Ryan, he patted Jamie’s arm. “Your dad has probably already been informed and will have someone contacting Harris’ wife, okay? You don’t need to do anything right now, okay?”

Jamie nodded, so Ryan passed him his cell phone. Once checking that the way was clear he pulled the car away and began driving to the hospital.

* * *

 

Eddie was stood at the main entrance to the hospital pacing a line. Back and forwards. Back and forwards. Ellis made the wise decision to stay out of her way. She jerked her head up hearing the doors open and there was Detective Ryan guiding Jamie into the waiting room.

“Jamie!” she exclaimed. Jamie looked up and his tense posture relaxed a little. Eddie stepped forward and then tightly hugged Jamie. She mouthed ‘thank you’ to Ryan, who gave her a small smile in response. Together they moved Jamie over to a chair and sat down either side of them.

There was still a red tinge to Jamie’s hands and before Eddie could think more on the subject Ellis had walked over with a cloth and a small bowl of warm water he’d got off a nurse. Eddie smiled in thanks and then turned her attention to Jamie.

Ryan had a hand gently squeezing Jamie’s forearm, Eddie guessed it was a way to comfort Jamie. Also for Ryan to ground himself. Eddie was aware of the friendship Ryan had had with Jamie and Joe growing up. And she knew it couldn’t be easy for him to have lost Joe and possibly have lost Jamie today.

Once she had washed Jamie’s hands, Eddie set the bowl aside, only for Ellis to take it back to the nurse’s desk. She then settled back in her chair and gently pulled Jamie’s head so it was resting on her shoulder.

Jamie shut his eyes tightly and breathed in a shuddering breath. Ryan seeing what was going on murmured something about coffee and then wandered off. Eddie rubbed a hand up and down Jamie’s side, murmuring. “It’ll be alright. Shhh, it’s okay.”

“This can’t be happening again,” mumbled Jamie, “Why is this happening again?”

“I don’t know Jamie,” she answered truthfully, “But it’ll be okay.”

“I thought that with Vinny,” choked Jamie, “But he still slipped away.”

Eddie closed her eyes to keep the tears at bay. Jamie had never really talked about Vinny. Just a passing remark here and there. But she had known Jamie had never really gotten over it. It’s why she understood Jamie had been so angry when fellow Officers had refused to back him and Kara up when Kara had gotten shot. That shootout could have ended up like the situation Vinny and Jamie had been in at the Bittermen houses.

As all they could do was wait, Eddie continued to hold Jamie as fellow Officers and Detectives arrived. Ryan had returned handing both her and Jamie some coffee. So the three of them waited in silence, waiting for news on Harris.

Ten minutes later Harris’ wife, Sally, arrived along with the Commissioner. Frank offered her some words of comfort. Eddie saw the moment Frank’s gaze landed on Jamie. So she gently pushed Jamie up and motioned towards his father. Shakily Jamie pulled himself to his feet and faced his father. He gave his father a nod and then moved over to Sally. After talking to her for a moment and leaving her with her sister, he moved back towards his father.

Eddie watched as Frank squeezed Jamie’s shoulder, she could see Frank wanted nothing more than to hug his son tightly. Just as she herself had done. But surrounded by a sea of police officers, Frank had to play the role of the strong and steady Police Commissioner.

Frank directed a look at her, which she knew was Frank silently asking her to look after Jamie while he stayed in his Commissioner role. She nodded her head in understanding and he responded with a small smile. She stood up and got Jamie a snack bar from the vending machine and after directing her boyfriend into his chair once again. She made him begin to eat the bar.

Ryan had spotted his partner so excused himself, so Eddie remained glued to Jamie’s side. Talking when he wanted to, and remaining silent when he wanted to. Being Jamie’s Patrol partner for two years had made her finely in tuned with Jamie’s moods and what his different postures meant what he was thinking or feeling. So Eddie relied on her instincts with him and continued to wait. It had only been forty minutes since Harris had been brought in. And with the wound he had. Eddie knew they were in for a longer wait.

* * *

 

Ryan spotted Esposito; and seeing Jamie was alright with Eddie he stood up and made his way over to his best friend who was leaning against the wall taking in the gathering mass of Officers and Detectives.

“You doing okay?” asked Esposito,

Ryan shrugged, “I’m fine.”

Esposito raised a brow, “Really? Because seeing the look on your face at the scene and seeing as how you ran to Jamie without even making sure the shooter had been caught. That’s not like you bro.”

Ryan braised one arm against the wall beside Esposito and looked down at his feet, not wanting to meet his friend’s eye. “I just needed to make sure he was alright, Javi.”

“I get that. Trust me I do,” assured Esposito, as he patted Ryan’s shoulder. “But you can’t put yourself in danger like that.”

“We put ourselves in danger everyday Javi,” argued Ryan, looking up to meet Esposito’s gaze.

Esposito sighed, “Kevin. You know what I mean.”

Ryan nodded, “But…just seeing him there…all I could think about was Joe…that once he’d been an officer down as well…”

Esposito’s face softened. Ryan slumped against the wall beside Esposito and stared out at the waiting room, he turned when he felt two more people approach him. He found Beckett and Castle looking at him in concern.

“You doing okay Ryan?” asked Beckett.

Ryan frowned, “I wish people would stop asking me that. Jamie should be the priority not me.”

“Ryan-” started Castle,

“No. This is the second time Jamie has been in this situation, the first time he lost his partner and its touch and go with Harris. And he’s already lost Joe,” Ryan bit out in frustration. He wasn’t angry with his friends, just the situation. He deflated, “I’m sorry-”

“Don’t go there,” ordered Esposito. Ryan turned his head sharply to face his friend. “You’ve got nothing to be sorry for.” Ryan slowly nodded and slumped further against the wall with his eyes shut.

Castle patted his shoulder comfortingly, “Jamie’s fine, he’s not injured.”

“Yeah but he’s already lost one partner. And that was a rough time for him.” Ryan shuddered remembering the blank look in Jamie’s eyes from when he’d come to check on Jamie after he’d been taken to the E.R. following the shooting. “I don’t know how he’d cope a second time.” He added softly.

“He’s got you, his family and now Eddie. He’d be fine.” Assured Castle, trying to comfort his friend. It wasn’t right seeing Ryan so downtrodden; Ryan was the happy and optimistic one of the team. The defeated posture did not suit him at all.

“It’s just…when we were kids I promised Joe that whatever happened when we grew up that I’d help keep an eye on Jamie,” Ryan then smiled softly remembering when Jamie had gone off to Harvard. “When Jamie got into Harvard Joe was so proud. But all the Reagans knew Jamie was destined to be a cop. And I told Joe that whenever Jamie decided to join the force, that I would keep tabs on him. And then when Jamie was assigned to the Twelfth and I saw him in his uniform,” he swallowed thickly past the lump in his throat. “I thought he looked a lot like Joe when he was in uniform.”

“You have watched out for him,” smiled Beckett, “I never knew Joe, but I’m sure he’s thankful that you’ve done what you have for Jamie.” Ryan nodded at her and turned to see Esposito smiling.

Castle tapped Ryan on the arm, “Hey will you ever tell me stories from when you were in patrol? I see what Detectives do, but I’d like to know what Officers go through.”

Ryan paused and then smiled softly remembering his time in uniform with Joe. While the memories were painful to some extent, they were still happy. “One day I will Castle.”

Castle shot him a broad grin; Ryan knew his friend understood that it would take him some time to talk about his stories that involved Joe. But he was thankful that Castle was going to give him the time he needed to be able to tell the stories.

* * *

 

It was two hours later and Jamie had just walked out of Harris’ room. Harris was going to be fine, and in a couple of months he would be back on the job. Jamie entered the waiting room and offered his first true smile since the whole mess had started. Danny and Henry had arrived an hour ago and were sat with Frank, Ryan and Eddie. Captain Gates was also there; when she had first arrived she had immediately checked on Jamie before going to sit with Sally.

Today was the first day Gates hadn’t scared the living daylights out of him.

The heads of his friends and family all turned to face him once they heard his footsteps. Eddie approached him first.

“Okay?” she asked, hugging him with one arm.

Jamie nodded, “Yep.”

Gates then approached, “I’m glad you and Harris are alright. You can take tomorrow off and then while Harris is on medical leave you’ll be temporarily assigned to Beckett’s team.”

“Yes ma-. Sir,” said Jamie, he still couldn’t get his tongue around calling Gates Sir, even three months after joining her squad.

Gates smiled and then after a few words to the Commissioner she left the waiting room. Danny stood as Jamie and Eddie neared. “All good kid?”

Jamie nodded, “Could do with a drink. Or two.”

Danny gave him a half smile, “Don’t blame ya. Come on back to dad’s and then stay the night in your old room. Eddie you can come to.”

“Yeah okay,” agreed Eddie. As Eddie said she’d come Jamie found himself nodding in agreement.

As he began to leave, Jamie caught sight of Ryan picking up his jacket to leave, so Jamie made his way over to his friend.

“Thanks Kevin,” he smiled.

Ryan patted his arm, “No need to thank me.” He grinned, “Can’t wait til your working with us. _Rookie_ ,” he teased.

Jamie rolled his eyes chuckling, “Great.” He then paused.

“Hey,” said Ryan tapping Jamie’s shoulder, “It’s okay to laugh, everything is fine. You don’t need to feel guilty for laughing.” He commented seriously looking Jamie straight in the eye. “Go to your dad’s house, have a few drinks and laughs. You and Harris both made it. Go home and relax.”

Jamie nodded, and then suddenly found himself hugging the man that was like a third older brother to him growing up.

Ryan paused for a moment in shock. Then, smiling, he brought his arms up to return the hug. “It’s okay. You did good today kid.” Ryan looked over Jamie’s shoulder to see his teammates smiling at him.

Jamie leaned back and then left the hospital with his family and Eddie, to do exactly as Ryan said. He and his partner had survived, what wasn’t worth celebrating about that?

Ryan also went home to his wife and daughter, along with his teammates to follow his own advice. And to remind himself that he hadn’t lost Jamie like Joe, and Harris would eventually be back to his usual self.

There would always be tough days but with their friends and teammates around them, they all knew that they’d survive the bad days. Their friends wouldn’t let them fall. Just as they wouldn’t let their friends fall.


	8. Chapter 8

It had been two months since Harris had been shot and Jamie had found himself working in Beckett’s team. Jamie had to admit that while Harris had been a great partner and mentor, he had learnt more, and grown more, as a Detective in the past two months. There was a reason why Beckett’s team had one of the highest closure rates in the city. And he had only benefitted from it as a junior Detective. His own closure rate was climbing higher each month, and at the rate he was closing cases he was sure to surpass Danny’s closure rate from his first year as a Detective.

Not long after Harris’ shooting he and Eddie had made the decision to move in together, and had found a decent sized apartment not too far away from the 12th. That particular morning Eddie had a later shift so she was lounging on the couch laughing at Jamie as he tried to find his shoes before leaving to go to work.

“You could help you know,” stated Jamie, as he looked at his girlfriend with one brow raised.

“You’re a Detective,” smirked Eddie, “So go detect.” She added, while making a shooing motion with her hands.

Jamie rolled his eyes, “I’m gonna be late,” he mumbled after checking his watch. And he had no intention of annoying Gates by being late, just when finally she stopped scaring him.

A few seconds later Eddie hauled herself up off the couch taking pity on him. As Jamie had come in late last night after catching a break in the case he was working on. A minute later Eddie found the shoes under the armchair and held them up.

“Looking for these?” she chuckled,

Smiling Jamie took his shoes and once they were on his feet he smiled at Eddie before kissing her. “Thank you. What would I do without you?”

“Go to work shoe less,” deadpanned Eddie. Seeing the time she began to push Jamie toward the door, “Go before you’re late!”

“I’m going!” laughed Jamie, he paused in the doorway and smirked, “It’s almost as if you’ve got a hot date coming over and want me out the way.”

“Yes I do, so kindly leave as he’ll be here in five minutes,” snickered Eddie. As Jamie opened the door Eddie reached up and hugged him tightly, “Be careful.”

“I will,” promised Jamie. They shared another kiss and then Jamie was walking out into the hall. As he turned the corner to go down the stairs he waved at Eddie who was still poking her head around the door. He knew she was only worried, they didn’t exactly have one of the safest jobs and he had had some close shaves in his five months of being a Detective. More than he’d had while on Patrol, as Danny liked to point out.

Soon he was walking into the bullpen and spotted Beckett walking out of the break room. She waved at him while commenting, “Uniforms are picking up our suspect. Want to join me in interrogation?”

Jamie stood gaping for a second. In the two months he had been on her team he hadn’t been in interrogation. While some cops, like Danny, might find it frustrating. Jamie had taken the opportunity to observe how Beckett, Castle, Ryan and Esposito tackled suspects and how they responded to different situations. “Okay. But what about Castle?” he replied.

Beckett smiled, “Think it’s time you got a chance. Who knows, after watching you he might create a character based on you.”

“Huh, dunno about that,” said Jamie shaking his head with a smirk.

Twenty minutes later a pair of uniforms arrived tugging along a tall man with long shaggy hair in his thirties, between them. Beckett walked into the room first; Jamie was about to follow when he caught sight of Danny entering the bullpen. He opened his mouth to talk to his brother but Danny just waved him on.

“It can wait,” he said, he then followed Ryan, Esposito and Castle into the observation room.

Jamie nodded to himself. _Great, Danny is here to watch. No pressure._

He walked into the room, casting a side-glance at the mirror wondering what Danny was thinking. He knew if he did or said anything Danny disagreed with he was sure that he was going to hear all about it at the next Sunday dinner. He shut the door and slowly made his way to the table were Beckett and the suspect, Scott Palmer, was sat.

The table was side on to the mirror and Jamie found himself in the chair closest to the mirror. He sat back in his chair, coming across as non-threatening to Scott, while Beckett leaned forward in her chair. While his and Beckett’s postures were both different, they both stared at Scott unblinking.

* * *

 

Danny stood watching as Jamie entered the interrogation room. He spotted Jamie’s glance at the mirror and he could sense his brother’s nervousness. He knew it wasn’t down to Jamie being nervous for his first interrogation seeing as he knew Jamie had done them before. Danny thought that maybe he shouldn’t have come to watch Jamie, but even if he left now Jamie wouldn’t know. So Danny shrugged to himself and turned his attention back to his brother.

For the first few minutes Beckett took the lead on the interrogation asking simple questions, while Jamie was sitting in silence. It didn’t mean he was doing nothing. Far from it. He continued to stare at Scott, daring him to lie to their faces. Looking closer at Jamie’s face Danny sniggered.

“What?” asked Castle frowning in confusion.

“It’s nothing,” responded Danny trying to contain his chuckles.

“No. Seriously, what’s funny?” pestered Castle, as he glanced at Beckett and Jamie and back to Danny. Wondering what it was about the usual interrogation that could have a seasoned Detective chuckling to himself.

Danny turned to face Castle and the other two Detectives. “It’s just…looking at Jamie’s face right now. It’s exactly the same look my mom had when I did something wrong.”

“Ah,” nodded Esposito grinning.

Ryan leaned closer to the mirror and after a seconds pause exclaimed, “Oh yeah!” he then began to chuckle. “You were on the receiving end of that look _quite a lot_ Danny.”

“You got it a few times as well Kevin,” commented Danny with his arms crossed.

“Did he?” asked Castle smiling broadly, “Boy Scout Kevin got into trouble?”

“Yep,” smiled Danny, “Quite the mischief maker, along with Joe and Jamie.”

“Sounds like some great stories,” probed Castle.

“No!” interrupted Ryan, “No, actually kind of boring.”

“ _Sure_ ,” scoffed Esposito as he grinned at his partner.

Ryan sighed and then said, “Aren’t we here to watch an interrogation?”

Danny smiled at the younger man and then turned his focus back to his brother. Intrigued to see how the interrogation was going to go.

* * *

 

Jamie watched as Scott became twitchier and twitchier, as Beckett asked more questions that directly involved the murder of Liam Tannen. While Scott was busy trying to deflect Beckett’s questions, Jamie sighed loudly gaining Scott’s attention.

“What’s your problem?” demanded Scott, glaring at Jamie.

Jamie crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at Scott, “My ‘problem’ is that I hate it when people lie to my face and to my fellow Detectives.”

“ _I’m not lying_!” Scott exclaimed, waving his arms up in the air to emphasize his point.

Jamie shook his head, “You said you had no idea who Liam Tannen was.”

“Yeah. So?” interrupted Scott angrily.

Beckett leaned forward, resting her arms on the table. “We know for a fact, that you and your friends have been meeting and dealing drugs outside the building Liam worked as a security guard.”

“What of it? Doesn’t mean anything,” smirked Scott, crossing his arms and trying to appear indifferent to the Detectives in front of him.

“It does when Liam’s fellow security guard says that Liam told you on numerous occasions to move from the front of the building.” Commented Jamie matter of factly, he watched as Scott shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

“Not only did Liam tell you to move along, but interestingly that each time he told you to move. You _loudly exclaimed_ that you would ‘make him pay’ for hassling you,” added Beckett.

“I didn’t kill him!” shouted Scott as he leapt to his feet, causing his chair to shoot backwards. “The last time I saw him was when he told me to move on four days ago!”

Jamie and Beckett just shared a casual glance, before turning to stare at Scott calmly. Jamie opened a file and pushed a photo across the table and tapped it.

“Funny. See this is a screen shot from an ATM camera of you arguing with Liam. Which is _time stamped_ , twenty minutes before Liam was shot and killed in an alley. Just a block and a half away from this ATM,” said Jamie, looking up at Scott with hard, unblinking eyes.

Scott’s hands shook at his sides before he exclaimed, “If he hadn’t been putting his nose in business that wasn’t his, then he’d still be alive!”

Jamie turned to Beckett, who nodded at him and gestured to Scott. So Jamie got to his feet and took the cuffs from his belt as he began to read the Miranda rights to Scott.

As Jamie exited the interrogation room he handed Scott to a uniform and watched as Scott was walked over to holding. He turned when he felt a pat on his shoulder.

“Good work,” smiled Beckett.

“Thanks,” replied Jamie. Beckett then made her way over to her own desk. Just as the door to the observation room opened, and Jamie was met with the smiling face of his brother. Castle wondered over to Beckett’s desk, while Ryan and Esposito smiled at Jamie before going over to their own desks.

“Hey that was quiet a show there kid. I’m proud of you,” grinned Danny, he clapped Jamie on the back.

“Thanks Danny,” smiled Jamie. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but having Danny’s praise and his brother saying he was proud meant a lot to him. “So what did you want before?”

“Oh yeah! Well Linda’s got an extra shift on Saturday so we were wondering if you could pick up the meat for Sunday dinner?” asked Danny.

Jamie nodded, “Yeah that’s fine. I’ll drop it at dad’s after I get it, so there’s no risk of me leaving it at my apartment on Sunday.”

“Great!” smiled Danny, “Hey wanna grab a drink after shift?”

“Sure,” agreed Jamie, “five thirty sound good to you?”

“Sounds like a plan,” nodded Danny. Then with a wave Danny was walking out of the bullpen.

Jamie walked over to his desk to begin his paperwork for the case. Ryan and Esposito were already throwing balls of paper at each other, no doubt already feeling bored and taking the opportunity of Gates being out for the morning in meetings at One PP. Soon Jamie had joined in, in their small paper ball war, despite Beckett trying to retain order. Castle laughing from his chair did nothing to keep order; it only ended with the other three launching numerous paper balls at him. Unfortunately some did land in front of Beckett and even hit her. Seeing the glare aimed at them. Ryan, Esposito and Jamie hastily retreated to the break room for a few minutes. But once they returned to their desks Paper Ball War 2 soon broke out.

“Is this what you’ve done to my partner while I’ve been gone?” asked a voice from the edge of the bullpen. Jamie spun his chair away from facing Ryan and Esposito so he was facing the middle walkway of the bullpen. And found Harris stood looking at them with one brow raised. “It was nice having a partner help with the paperwork for once. And now look what you’ve done!”

“Hiya Will!” greeted Jamie enthusiastically; he got to his feet and walked the short distance to his partner. They shared a hug and soon Harris was swarmed with ‘welcome back’ from everyone in the bullpen.

“I thought you weren’t back until next week,” commented Esposito.

Harris smiled and shook his head; “I was so bored that Sally, and even the kids, were beginning to want me out of the house so they could have some peace.”

At that moment Gates arrived and seeing Harris she led him into her office and once he showed her his medical clearance to start work again. Gates cleared Harris herself, and then he emerged from her office with a broad grin and his arms in the air while exclaiming, “I’m back!”

Jamie finished his paperwork for the Liam Tannen case and placed all the sheets of paper into a file and walked over to Beckett’s desk. She looked up and took the file from him.

“I know we will still work in the same bullpen. But it was nice working with you in our team, Jamie,” she smiled.

“You too. I’ve learned a lot,” he commented.

Beckett stood and held out her hand, Jamie shook her offered hand as she said, “You’ll be a great Detective.”

The rest of the shift passed by peacefully, Harris told Jamie what he had been doing while on medical leave and Jamie brought Harris up to speed with what had been going on in the precinct. Soon it was five o’clock and Jamie was shutting down his computer and said goodnight to everyone. He picked up his jacket and began to walk out of the bullpen to go and meet with Danny. But he had one stop to make first.

* * *

 

Danny sipped on his beer when he checked his watch. Jamie was fifteen minutes late and his little brother was never late and if he was he always texted or called. His stomach began to tie itself in knots with unease. He knew he was probably worrying over nothing, but since his and Jamie’s massive argument in the locker room in Danny’s squad three years ago, he and Jamie had become closer. And the thought of anything happening to his little brother did not sit well with Danny at all. Just as he checked his cell phone for the third time, he turned hearing the bar door open and shut. And there casually strolling into the bar was Jamie, a smile etched on to his face, as if he did not have a care in the world. As if he did not realize he was late and had worried his older brother.

“Where have you been?! You’re never late!” exclaimed Danny, after clearing his throat to ensure his voice remained neutral. As Jamie sat himself on the stool on Danny’s right side.

Despite Danny’s efforts Jamie still caught the slight hitch in his voice, betraying his brother’s worry. “Sorry, I lost track of time.”

Danny shook himself, “It’s fine, but if you were caught up at work why didn’t you text me or something?”

“Wasn’t at work,” stated Jamie casually, as he looked straight ahead and signalled to the barman.

“Then where were you?” asked Danny in confusion. His confusion grew when Jamie threw him a side-glance along with a cryptic grin. “Kid. What’s going on?”

Jamie’s grin widened as he fished inside his jacket pocket and pulled out something from his pocket. His hand fully enclosed whatever it was, preventing Danny from guessing what it was. Danny watched as Jamie slowly placed the object on the bar in wonder and interest. With one more smile Jamie removed his hand from the object and Danny found himself staring at a small black box. All it took was a second for Danny to suspect what he was looking at.

“Is that?...” he started,

Jamie nodded at the box with a grin, “Take a look for yourself.”

And so Danny reached out with his right hand and opened the box. Inside revealed, nestled on a purple cushion, a small sliver ring with a small diamond that twinkled in the dim bar light.

Danny’s face broke out into a wide grin and he leaned over to clap his brother on the back. “Good for you kid.”

“I don’t know what you’re congratulating me for, I haven’t asked her yet!” teased Jamie.

Danny rolled his eyes, “Technicalities. As I know she’ll say yes.” After a toast to the engagement Danny was sure would happen Danny looked back at his brother and asked, “So, how you gonna ask her?”

“Well, whenever Eddie watches a rom-com she always comments on the cheesy proposal in a stereotypical romantic place.” Commented Jamie, he took a sip from his beer and continued. “I know this is going to sound really unromantic, but I was just going to ask her after dinner in our apartment tonight, once she finished her shift.”

Danny smiled and shook his head, “That’s not unromantic. I know that because after what you just said about what Eddie thinks about proposals in rom-com’s. It shows that you know her very well. And in its on way, that is romantic.” He clapped Jamie on the back again as he took another sip from his beer, “Now hurry up and finish your beer so you can go and get dinner ready for when Eddie gets home so you can ask her as soon as possible.”

Jamie laughed, “You got it Danny.”

Once Jamie had left, Danny raised his bottle to his brother’s retreating back with a smile. “Good for you kid. Good for you,” he murmured.

* * *

 

Dinner had been eaten and everything had been put away, and Eddie was ready to collapse on the couch and fall asleep. Jamie smiled at her and as he put the last dishes away, he gently pushed her towards the couch. Eddie plonked herself in her usual spot, and wriggled around, as something wasn’t quite right with the cushions. It was as if something was digging into her side. So she reached behind the small cushion and felt her hand brush up against something. Frowning in confusion she pulled out a small black box.

“What the heck is this?” she wondered aloud.

“Why don’t you opened it and see,” said Jamie as he walked around the couch to stand beside her.

“Okay,” replied Eddie slowly. So she opened the box and gasped seeing the silver diamond ring. She turned to Jamie and saw he was now kneeling on one knee.

Jamie was beaming at her, when he began to say. “Edit Janko, from the moment I met you, you turned my life upside down, for the better. Not only because I was expecting my new partner to be a fat, sweaty guy.” Eddie chuckled remembering the surprise on Jamie’s face when they first met. “Everyday on Patrol with you was an adventure. You always brightened the mood and your sharp whit and humour never failed to make me laugh. Along with how much you ate. Your seriousness and dedication to the job, along with how much you genuinely care for the people you protect, but don’t know, showed me how great of a cop you are. You always had my back, no matter what happened. And because I love you so much. Eddie, will you marry me?”

It didn’t even take a full second before Eddie exclaimed, “Yes! Yes I will marry you!”

They both got to their feet and hugged tightly, Jamie took the ring from the box and slid it gently onto Eddie’s finger.

“I love you Jamison Reagan,” Eddie murmured.

“And I love you Edit Janko,” replied Jamie smiling.

Eddie leaned her head back a little and with a grin said, “I think Edit Reagan sounds better.” And then she kissed Jamie showing him exactly what she was feeling.

While they sat on the couch, snuggling up together, not really watching whatever was on the TV. Eddie reflected on how lucky she was to be engaged to someone so caring and loving as Jamie. And she was looking forward to the rest of her life with Jamie, with every fibre of her being.

* * *

 

It was Sunday, three days into Jamie and Eddie’s engagement. And the only one to know was Danny. Not because Jamie and Eddie had told him. But because he had not gotten a text from his little brother to meet up for a beer so Jamie could drink away his sadness of being told ‘no’ by Eddie.

So excitedly, Jamie and Eddie walked through the front door shouting out their arrival. Everyone was gathered in the living room; Eddie had her left hand in her jacket pocket and shared a secretive smile with Jamie.

“Am I missing something here?” asked Henry. He might have been a retired cop, but it didn’t mean his mind wasn’t as sharp as it had been while he’d been a Detective.

“Nothing much,” responded Eddie, as she slowly pulled her left hand out of her pocket.

Everyone in the room immediately caught the small glittering object on Eddie’s hand.

“Are you engaged?” asked Erin excitedly. Trying with all her might to contain her excitement.

At Jamie and Eddie’s nods, everyone shot to their feet and swarmed the couple with congratulations. Jamie looked over everyone’s heads and locked gazes with Danny. They shared a grin, Danny nodded at his brother and Jamie’s smile grew.

He was almost six months into being a Detective, something that had been four years in the making. But while this was something he had been aiming for, for two years ago. He knew the best part of the past six months had been the build up to this moment. He also knew, for the many years in the future, they could only get better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be one more chapter, which will be an epilogue. I am leaning towards setting it ten years into the future. So if you want to suggest names for Eddie and Jamie’s kids by all means let me know and I will add them in, but if I get loads of suggestions (IF!) then I’ll pick the first ones suggested to me. Also as its ten years in the future there will be Castle’s and Beckett’s kids mentioned also, so any name suggestions for those would be great to!
> 
> Thanks for reading and reviewing; hope to see you for the last chapter!


	9. Epilogue - 13 Years Later

A lot had happened in the thirteen years since Jamie and Eddie had gotten married. Beckett had made Lieutenant the following year, leaving the Twelfth to go to the Twenty-fourth Precinct. Castle popped in occasionally to see Ryan, Esposito and Jamie, but it wasn’t the same. Things were changing. But some of them weren’t all bad. Just after their second wedding anniversary Jamie and Eddie had their first child, a boy, Charlie Joseph Reagan. However, since Beckett’s leaving Homicide, a series of changes began within the squad. Ryan also got promoted to Lieutenant, and moved to the Fifty-fourth Precinct, funnily enough becoming the Lieutenant for Major Case, and Danny’s boss.

It led to a Sunday dinner Jamie wouldn’t forget in a hurry.

* * *

 

_“Wait.” Began Danny, with his fork halfway to his mouth. “Ryan is becoming the Lieutenant for Major Case. My squad!”_

_“Yes,” nodded Frank, trying, and failing, to keep his smile off his face._

_“But I watched him grow up!” exclaimed Danny, seeming to forget about his fork of food. Which was still being held up in the air. That and the look on his face caused one-year-old Charlie to start giggling at his Uncle. Soon causing everyone else to snigger into his or her hands._

_“And?” prompted Henry, trying not to look at his youngest great grandson, knowing he would lose all self-control once he set eyes on the giggling toddler._

_“It’ll be weird!” protested Danny, “It’d be like Jamie being my Lieutenant!”_

_Jamie frowned at his brother, “You know that won’t happen. They don’t allow relationships between partners, so do you honestly think they’ll let brothers work out of the same squad? Even if one is the Lieutenant?”_

_“I know that!” countered Danny, rolling his eyes at his brother, “But my point still stands. It’d be weird!”_

_“Well I hope you can soon get over it,” commented Frank dryly. “Kevin starts as the Lieutenant of Major Case tomorrow.”_

_The whole table had erupted into laughter at Danny’s face. And imaging the look on Danny’s face the next morning when Ryan arrived._

* * *

 

Harris also moved from Homicide going to Gangs. So Jamie and Esposito became partners. They got on really well, but Jamie knew Esposito was missing Ryan. They had been partners for eight years before Jamie became Detective as it was. Two of those years were even before Castle wormed his way into the squad. So it didn’t surprise Jamie that, a year later, when the opportunity to be promoted to Lieutenant arose, Esposito took it. Jamie figured working in the squad where he was used to seeing Beckett, Castle and Ryan everyday, but not seeing them, was hard for Esposito. So while Jamie found it sad to see him leave, he understood it. But like Ryan and Beckett, Esposito was leaving the Twelfth to go to the Twenty-second’s Narcotics squad.

Much to everyone’s amusement, that same year, Jamie and Eddie had another child, a girl this time, Eloise Mary Reagan. Ryan and Jenny also had a child, Joshua, and Beckett and Castle had their first child, also a girl, Johanna. The babies’ father’s may or may not have been placing bets on the chances of Joshua, at some point in the future, dating either Eloise or Johanna. Of course they kept this secret from their wives.

Two years later came along another daughter for the Castle’s, Sophie. Jamie still chuckled to this day when remembering a desperate conversation with Castle, the day after Sophie was born.

* * *

 

_“It is like I am destined to forever have daughters and be surrounded by women!” exclaimed Castle._

_Jamie shrugged, “Come on Castle, it can’t be that bad.”_

_Castle stared at him wide eyed, “You fail to recall I used to live with my mother, Alexis and Kate. But now mother and Alexis have moved out, Johanna and Sophie are there instead!”_

_“Castle. Seriously you’re being over dramatic,” soothed Jamie, as he patted Castle on the shoulder._

_“At least you and Ryan both have one daughter and one son! You don’t understand! What happens to me once Sophie and Johanna are teenagers?! It was bad enough with Alexis, but Sophie and Johanna are only two years apart!”_

* * *

 

Jamie had nothing else he could say to Castle that might have helped. Because he was soon distracted by his father’s retirement from being the Police Commissioner. In a way it helped Jamie feel more at ease. Since his joining the force, eyes had been on him, all because he was the Commissioner’s son. Danny and Joe, both had the easier time, due to Frank not being the Commissioner when they joined the force.

It also seemed that Castle’s concerns of being left home alone, in the future with two teenage girls, was unfounded. Because a year later Beckett left the NYPD and became a Senator. It seemed to be a time period of people Jamie knew leaving the force. Seven years after his and Eddie’s wedding Renzulli also made the decision to retire, and even offered his services as a babysitter for the two youngest Reagans. It was also the same year Eddie became a Sargent. Despite this promotion she remained in the Twelfth, which Jamie was thankful for, because he would readily admit that he was missing all the people he used to work with.

The following year, however, Eddie was on maternity leave once again because of the arrival of Lillian Elizabeth Reagan. This year Ryan was promoted to Captain in the Central Robbery Division. This led to much celebration at the Old Haunt. And many headaches the following morning. Eddie had, to her amusement and Jamie’s pain. Unleashed the six-year-old Charlie and five year old Eloise on Jamie while Eddie fed the two-month-old Lily. Jamie also made a decision, there was still many changes going on in Homicide and he had already had two partners in the five years since Esposito left. So when Gates had heard of an opening in the Twelfth’s Missing Person squad she gave Jamie a transfer. So on Jamie’s last day in Homicide after eight years, he went and said goodbye to Gates.

* * *

 

_Gates was allowing Jamie to leave Homicide halfway through his shift so he could spend the rest of the day settling into his new squad. Without having to take his belongings home, only to bring them back to the same precinct the next day._

_“I just wanted to say goodbye Sir,” said Jamie as he popped his head around Gates’ office door. Gates stood as she beckoned Jamie into her office. She outstretched her hand and Jamie shook it._

_“It has been wonderful working with you Reagan,” she smiled one of her rare genuine smiles. In the past years Jamie and Gates had had to work together on a few cases and had gotten on very well. So much so Victoria Gates and her husband were Lily’s Godparents. (Ryan and Jenny were Charlie’s Godparents and Renzulli and his wife were Eloise’s Godparents)._

_“You too. I’m sorry to go, but I can’t help but look forward to what’s coming,” admitted Jamie softly, as he looked out through the office window into the bullpen._

_Gates walked around her desk and rested a comforting hand on Jamie’s shoulder. “That is to be expected. And every member of the force that I have met, have all felt the same thing.”_

_Jamie smiled and nodded at her, and then taking a breath he shook Gates’ hand once more and walked out into the bullpen. A cardboard box sat on his desk with the items from his locker. He added the items from his desk into the box; the last item he took was his nameplate. He then looked at the desks that used to be occupied by Ryan and Esposito. Now occupied by two younger Detectives, who were aware of the legacy of the Detectives who sat at those desks before them. And trying to live up to those legacies._

_He turned and smiled as he past the break room where some Detectives were using the coffee machine bought by Castle, all those years ago. Despite his friends leaving the squad, Castle opted to leave the machine there, unknowingly acting as a reminder of the team, which Castle worked with, and their legacy. Once Jamie reached the elevator, he took another deep breath and stepped into the elevator and turned to look out at the bullpen. He smiled thinking back on his eight years in the squad. Arriving as a green Detective and leaving a Detective that had grown a lot thanks to his original partner and friends. The doors slowly slid shut and the elevator began to climb to the sixth floor where the Missing Persons squad was located. Jamie knew the next day that there was a very high chance he’d get off at the fourth floor._

* * *

 

When Lily was two, Eddie and Jamie had their last child, Matthew Francis Reagan, who Charlie regarded with relief, because finally he had a brother as backup against his sisters. And a year later Beckett and Castle had their last child, much to Castle’s enjoyment, Adam Castle.

Twelve years after Jamie joined Homicide, and four years since he left. Gates had moved on up the ranks and Esposito came back to the Twelfth as Homicide’s new Captain. On Esposito’s first day he and Jamie rode the elevator together after meeting when they both got out of their cars.

* * *

 

_The elevator pinged when it reached the fourth floor; Esposito walked a few steps and then turned to look at Jamie. “Aren’t you getting off?”_

_The doors began to slide shut and Jamie outstretched an arm to keep the doors open._

_Jamie smiled sadly, “I haven’t got off here for four years Javi.”_

_Esposito’s face dropped in shock, “I forgot.” He looked out at the bullpen before him. “It’ll be strange without you. When I left, you were still here. Now no one is here.”_

_Jamie clapped Esposito’s shoulder, “If I could manage without you all, you’ll be just fine. How about I pop down to meet you for lunch? It’s about time I came back to Homicide.”_

_“Sounds good to me,” nodded Esposito._

_Jamie stepped back into the elevator and smiled at his friend as the doors shut, and took him up to the sixth floor._

* * *

 

And now thirteen years after joining Homicide as a new Detective, Jamie was just about to start a Monday morning as a newly promoted Lieutenant. Somehow, he was able to remain in the Twelfth, as the Lieutenant for Narcotics. Something that Jamie found funny, as it was the first squad in which Ryan had began his Detective career.

Matthew, who had stumbled into his parent’s room, looked up at Jamie with his arms raised, pulled Jamie from his thoughts. Jamie smiled down at his youngest son and picked him up.

“Did you escape from mommy again Mattie?” smirked Jamie.

Matthew just chuckled into his hands. Jamie shook his head smiling; he picked up his jacket from the foot of the bed and walked out of the bedroom, with Matthew still perched on his hip. He walked down the stairs of the house he and Eddie bought just after Eloise was born. It wasn’t far from his grandfather and father’s house in Bay Ridge. It meant Jamie and Eddie both had a longer drive to work, but neither minded because it meant their children could see more of Frank and Henry.

Eddie looked up from where she was crouched in front of Lily buttoning up her coat.

“You found the escapee then,” she chuckled.

Eddie had a day off after pulling a double shift and so was walking the older three to school and Jamie was dropping Matthew off at his father’s house, as was the original plan. But despite Eddie’s unexpected day off, Matthew still insisted on going to his grandfather’s house. Jamie put Matthew on the floor and Eddie swooped in and put his coat on before the three year old escaped again.

Jamie turned to look at his other children who were all ready and waiting patiently by the door for their mother. Jamie looked at them proudly, while all four children had their mother’s stubborn streak, the older three seemed to have his own quiet and calm attitude as well. Matthew on the other hand, was all his mother, looks and personality. Eloise also looked like Eddie, it was obvious that they were mother and daughter. Lily looked a lot like Jamie’s mother, the same shape of face and her little nose. Charlie was definitely a Reagan; there was no doubt about that. Jamie had heard his dad telling Eddie that Charlie was a spitting image of Jamie at that age. However, sometimes when he looked at his son, Jamie could swear he was looking at a young Joe. But it had been said when he and Joe were growing up that they looked so alike they could have been twins.

“You guys already for school?” he asked,

“Yes dad,” drawled all three. Jamie hid a smirk, they sounded just like their mother in that moment. He turned and shared a smile with Eddie.

“Are you looking forward to your new job dad?” asked Charlie,

Jamie nodded, “Yes I am.”

“Aren’t you a cop anymore?” exclaimed Lily in shock, and also some disappointment because she boasted to her friends a lot of the time, how cool her parents’ jobs were.

“No he is!” interrupted Eloise, “He’s just not a Detective anymore.”

“That’s right Ellie,” smiled Jamie, he gently squeezed her shoulder.

Lily nodded, while she was a bit young to understand the ranks in the force, Charlie wasn’t. “So does that mean you get to boss Uncle Danny around?” he asked. Jamie heard Eddie snort while trying to stop laughing.

“Kinda,” replied Jamie, trying to hide his own amusement. His older brother had decided that he preferred being a Detective and felt he could do more good in his role as Detective, and so had never taken an exam to get promoted.

Seeing that Eddie had finished getting Matthew ready, Jamie kissed the tops of his older children’s heads. Kissed Eddie goodbye and watched as the oldest three walked beside their mother on their way to school. Jamie scooped up Matthew, shut the front door behind him and made his way to his car. Once Matthew was securely in his booster seat, he began the short drive to his father’s house.

He stopped the car and after getting an excited Matthew out looked up to see his father already standing in the open door way. So Jamie let go of Matthew and smiled seeing his son run as fast as his little legs could take him to his grandfather. Jamie reached the house and saw Matthew sitting on the couch beside Henry. Despite Henry being in his early nineties he was still going strong.

“Looking forward to today son?” asked Frank.

Jamie turned to look at his dad and nodded, “Yeah I am. But I’m a bit nervous to be honest.”

“Ah you’ll be fine!” called Henry from the couch. He then added with a broad grin, “ _Lieutenant_ Reagan.”

Jamie began to leave and huffed when Matthew attached himself to his legs. Jamie looked down at his son and smiled. “Yes Matt?”

Matthew looked up at his dad with big blue eyes and said, “You’ll be careful daddy?”

Jamie stooped down and picked Matthew up and hugged him tightly, “I will bud.” Three months ago Jamie had been taken to the hospital after being knocked unconscious by a fleeing suspect in the case of a missing girl. It wasn’t the worst injury he’d suffered, but it had been the first time he’d been admitted to a hospital in thirteen years. Since he and Ryan had been taken hostage in fact. So Matthew had never had to see his father in hospital before, none of his children had, it had been a rough time for the kids then. But for three-year-old Matthew it had been scary for him and since then he always asked his dad to be careful before he left for work.

* * *

 

It was now lunchtime and Jamie looked up hearing a knock on his office door. And he smiled seeing the three people entering. Danny, Ryan and Esposito. All three having the same idea of bringing lunch.

Jamie looked at them with a raised eyebrow, “Didn’t communicate then?”

“Shut up kid,” commented Danny, but Jamie saw his smile. “So how’s today been so far?”

“It’s been really good. Strange though,” responded Jamie, as Ryan and Esposito dragged up two extra chairs in front of Jamie’s desk.

Esposito looked at his old partner when he caught Ryan looking out at the bullpen. “What you looking at bro?”

“My old desk,” muttered Ryan. “I was only here for two years before moving to Homicide, but those two years helped shaped me as a Detective.”

Jamie looked over at his friend, “Well if you ever wanted to come and reminisce I’m sure the Lieutenant wouldn’t mind.”

Ryan smirked at Jamie as he shook his head, “Well thank the Lieutenant for me.”

Esposito chuckled, “If either of you want to come down to Homicide, I know the Captain so that will be okay.”

All four of them started laughing and then Danny added, “Is what happens to you once you become a Lieutenant or a Captain? If it is, I’m happy as a Detective!”

Jamie looked at his older brother, “You do know, if we go to anything official you have to salute at me now.”

Danny narrowed his eyes at his brother, “Don’t push it kid.”

The rest of their lunch was spent laughing and joking, while also remising about old cases. Soon lunch was eaten, so Ryan and Esposito took their leave, and as Jamie and Danny stood. The older brother smiled at the younger.

“I’m proud of you kid, and I know Joe is to,” said Danny. Seeing the tall Lieutenant before him, but also seeing the little kid Jamie used to be. Whenever he looked at his nephew Charlie, he would remember long forgotten memories of Joe and Jamie getting into mischief. It also seemed Charlie was following in his father’s footsteps in this matter, due to his friendship with Joshua Ryan.

“Thanks Danny,” smiled Jamie.

“Just telling the truth,” responded Danny, “See you later kid.”

And soon Jamie was left alone in his office with his paperwork. Five minutes later he walked out into the bullpen, and took the time to get to know his Detectives. Once he was about to go back into his office he spotted three of his Detectives, throwing paper balls at each other. Jamie smirked to himself, while squads would gain and loose Detectives, some things would never change.

**The End.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I might write some one shots based on some of the stuff I have written in the epilogue, but that isn't for certain, so don't hold your breath.


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